Recreant
by wasuremonogatari
Summary: They lived in a dark reality of the extrodinary within their own blood, but her dreaded eyes could see the best in him. "I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : I do not own Naruto (duh?) and I gain nothing from writing this piece of fan fiction.

 _Author's Note_ : Hello to everybody reading this! Thank you for clicking on this story, but firstly I'd like to explain some things about it that you might want to know.

I have labeled Recreant as a romance and mystery genre rightfully. Sasuke and Hinata are the main pairing but their relationship will not be the only focus of this story, although primary. It will take this chapter and the upcoming one until their first interaction. I love both Naruto and Sakura, so don't expect any bashing of either of the two in my story. Most characters will be equally flawed. Another thing is that I won't be pairing those two together as is usually done in SasuHina stories.

Hinata has a new power, Sasuke is still travelling, Naruto's already become Hokage and they are all around 22 years old. (Hinata is 21 as she is the youngest of her generation)

If you despise NaruHina and can't handle the slightest notion of their romance, this isn't the story for you. While trying to make this as realistic and close to the canon as possible, I felt that their relationship couldn't be avoided, although it will whither soon enough.

There will also be an OC as a minor character whom I will use to assist the plot and characterization in the beginning. Said character won't be prominent once the actual SasuHina part begins. This chapter is very long (16k words, I believe), and if you are interested in this story and let me know in the reviews, I'd rather opt for longer chapters. If you dislike it, please let me know why!

Sorry for the long note, if you read it, thank you! I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Recreant where we set a foundation for the story.

 **NOTE** : The chapter has been edited (December 2017). Constructive criticism I have received has been so helpful! I hope the new arrangement is improved. I'm working on fixing all the chapters I have before finishing the upcoming one. Thanks for everything!

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

A cigarette innocently dangled from in between the peach plump lips of one very pregnant Nara Temari. Her tongue toyed with the crisp finish in her mouth as she was lulled into a state of fleeting calm by the desert which stretched beyond the distant village gates. By her window she stood, one arm resting on the growing bump on her stomach.

"You're so lazy you don't even move around…" She sighed, grazing her swollen belly button with her knuckles. It was warm in the village of Hidden Sand and the mother-to-be was clad in a thin robe. Her hair was pulled up in four ponytails.

"And you should consider not following his example and going out every once in awhile." The voice which rang from behind her didn't startle Temari in the very least. She'd heard her little brother's sand crawl into her room through the lock of her closed door.

Temari turned to face him. He didn't bother commenting on the cigarette in her mouth or her flushed cheeks. She'd been crying for months on end and the contraptions she held between her teeth habitually were never lit.

"I told you I don't want to." She frowned, crossing her arms.

Gaara sighed. "How would you feel about it if I told you that a messenger from Konoha has arrived and you are obliged to carry out your duty as the ambassador and greet him in the meeting room?"

"I would tell you to find somebody else to do it." Temari said sternly, taking the cigarette into her fingers and strolling into her open bathroom, throwing it into the toilet.

After his sister's disheveled form disappeared from his sight and he heard a flush, Gaara started. "He carries news concerning Nara Shikamaru's mission."

A thud was heard before a gliding noise and Temari clumsily ran out to face him, grabbing his collar. Her eyes were wide and bloodshot - pleading and hopeful.

"Is he okay?" She stuttered, tears tickling her waterline. Gaara's aquamarine orbs softened and he held his sister's wrist.

"He's okay."

Suddenly, Temari surrendered herself to gravity, knees colliding with the floor softly as Gaara's sand prevented the fall from jarring her. She leaned her forehead against his knees, moist eyelashes brushing the harsh fabric of his brown trousers. A sob broke from her lips as a hand still held onto the fabric of the long Kage robe, by his thighs. Gaara's own vision became blurry for a second as her whimpers of joy and relief pierced his calm.

"He's downstairs." He gulped, biting his lip and blinking rapidly for a second. "We will go ahead with the meeting as soon as I arrive in a minute, so hurry making yourself presentable."

Having said that, Gaara too kneeled at Temari's eye level, meeting her gaze. Her lips were trembling, but they were suddenly adorned with a smile. For the first time in six months, his sister looked alive. Gaara's hand landed on the top of her blonde head, caressing it with his thumb. "You're okay now. All of you." Receiving one last nod from her, Gaara's finger fell to brush the top of her stomach, a genuine curl of his lips taking her breath away.

Shortly, Gaara had found himself pushing the heavy door of one of the Kazekage Tower's smaller underground chambers. Inside was a medium, rectangular table covered by a large map of the ninja world and surrounded by a few comfortable chairs covered with red cushions. It was complimented by warm lighting from the numerous torches evenly distributed across the walls.

Sitting in one of the chairs was an eerily ordinary man with the Leaf headband. He would not have recognized him had it not been for the metal gear framing the sides of his face and the ANBU mask he'd been hidden by once he first made a sudden appearance in Gaara's office. He could've been no more than a regular merchant or civilian in the redhead's eyes without the trademark giveaways of his infamous identity.

"Captain Yamato." Gaara acknowledged once the man turned to smile at him pleasantly. The Kazekage approached the table and took a seat. "I apologize for my digression. The ambassador will be here shortly." He neatly folded his robe beneath him, taking the wide white and green hat off of his head. The man waved him off. Temari was not even required to be there.

"Don't worry, my Lord. I did not mind waiting a couple of minutes, but I bet those must've meant the world to your sister." He beamed in understanding.

Gaara chuckled. "Please, don't be so formal, Captain. You are far superior than me in both experience and skill."

"You forgot to mention age, little brother." The men turned around as the blonde made her appearance. The door closed behind her and they stared in awe. A different woman approached them and took a seat besides her sibling. She was tired, but radiant and bursting with energy - thin yet protectively curling her arm around her plump belly while taking a giant fan off her back. She was clad in a black skirt and a red top, face fresh and smelling of rosewater.

"Hello, Captain." Temari smirked. Until she became a mother, first and foremost she was a lover, but with this little reassurance she had, she was ready to, in spite of everything, be the Princess of the Desert. Yamato briefly remembered why she was the wet dream of most men who had had the pleasure of working with her. He mirrored her beam.

"Good afternoon, Temari." Yamato started. "I bring news."

She nodded. "Or so I've heard…" The wariness in her voice still remained the same, Gaara noted as he glanced at her. She was reasonably anxious to hear about her lover's voyage.

"You may present the purpose of your abrupt visit. As you might already know, there is no top secret information that Lady Temari doesn't have access to. There is no reason to hesitate in front of her." Gaara said.

"Of course." Yamato nodded before starting. "As I've already said, Nara Shikamaru has returned from his undercover assignment four days ago."

"Four days ago?! Why didn't he come here straight away? Is he injured?" Temari enquired, eyes widening. Yamato shook his head.

Gaara interrupted him, turning to his sister and grabbing her fist which rested upon the table. "Temari, I ask of you nicely to respect the formality of this meeting. Your husband is fine, let the man talk and you'll get your answers." He lightly castigated before Temari bowed her head. Yamato watched as he tightened his hold briefly and reassuringly before releasing her and withdrawing his hand.

"Go on, please." Gaara asked as his sister bit her tongue. Yamato's black eyes darted from her tense form to the colorful scheme of the map before settling to rest locked with Gaara's own.

"Nara Shikamaru isn't injured. His mission was a success, but his request to venture off to Suna has been denied by the ANBU Black Ops as he still hasn't been thoroughly debriefed." He elaborated and the Sand siblings listened to him intently. There were waves of relief patronizing the woman's quickened heartbeat.

Yamato gulped. "I have come on my own as ordered by Hatake Kakashi, seeking your help. I also ought to relay information about his mission to the Kazekage and… Lady Nara." A corner of his lips darted upwards at the notion.

"We appreciate your effort..." Gaara started. "...but I was hoping you could tell me what the nature and purpose of Nara Shikamaru's mission was in the first place. We have gone through hell and back during these six months and I've tolerated the Hokage's decision to have it remain secret from me even though I had already done him a favor and consented to letting Konoha claim the Princess's first offspring. I am your friend, but I am also a politician. I have a nation to protect." His red hair appeared to be glowing in the candlelight while his usual raspy and airy tone of voice was adorned with a slight flare people all across the world liked to call a manifestation of the young Kazekage's impeccable gift for diplomacy and rhetoric.

"I won't delay this information any further. You have been patient enough." From the inside of his thick coat, Yamato pulled out a scroll with the Fire insignia. As the Kazekage reached out to take it, Yamato shook his head.

"Temari." He said, turning towards the woman who eyed him curiously. "This is for you." Gaara smiled lightly at his sister's suppressed awe as she took it, caressing the paper with her thumb. "This is merely part of my message to you. It is a handwritten letter from Shikamaru himself. It does not contain the mission details, though. It is a personal matter." Temari blushed before tucking it inside of her kunai pouch, resuming eye contact with the newcomer.

"The Nara answers to Suna just as he does to Konoha. I've made enough exceptions. Aren't you going to hand me over his mission report?" Gaara quirked a nonexistent eyebrow inquisitively.

Then, Yamato's visage hardened. "I'm afraid that the Hokage hadn't deemed it safe to leave such information written on paper in case it fell into the wrong hands." He said. "I am going to relay it verbally."

"What is this dangerous thing you speak of during such peaceful times? How do we know that you aren't lying?" Gaara asked straight away, not faltering for a second.

Temari glared at him. "Gaara!" She hissed, although the redhead didn't acknowledge her warning. Yamato licked his lips before glancing around.

"The room is impenetrable. Nobody will see or hear you." The Kazekage crossed his arms, waiting for the Leaf ninja's hesitation to wither. Slowly but surely, he stood up and threw his coat over the backrest of his chair. Darting his fingers lower, he grabbed the left edge of his black joggers and just as Temari was about to protest, he pulled the side down exposing his pelvic bone.

She grew silent.

Gaara watched.

There, intruding on the perfect fairness of his skin, was a tattoo of a triangle. It rested barely below his bone and to an outsider it might've seemed ridiculous or insignificant. Seeing it, Temari then smirked.

She stood up and confidently turning around, thrust her fingers back and in between her skin and fabric of her skirt. The two males watched her lower her hand just enough to expose the same emblem with the exception of a small circle centered in the middle, low on her back. The meaning behind the tattoos was only known by the people who had them and the ones who adorned them.

"That's enough." Gaara stated, causing the exchange to stop. They sat back down. "There is no reason for me to doubt those who carry their leader's Seal of Confidence. You may begin."

With a polite bow of the head, Yamato started. "Our ambassador in Kirigakure had reported some strange news prior to her sudden disappearance around eight months ago. Rumors, those were, but the mysterious circumstances and the Mist's refusal to assist us with the investigation had stirred some suspicion back in the Leaf. Mei Terumi had never displayed any curious behavior, but we had every reason to believe that the ambassador might have been killed because of that very piece of information she passed onto us."

Yamato paused. He was content with the attention he was receiving. Even Temari was focused. He continued.

"The said ambassador, whom you might know as Uzuki Yūgao, had suspected the Mizukage of starting to assemble a deadly new unit which the country had sworn never to assemble again. It was one of the key conditions on their part of the contract when the Allied Nations were being formed."

Gaara frowned. "Unit..? Do you mean the Swordsmen?"

Yamato nodded. "Yes, Yūgao had reported suspicious activity on Mei Terumi's part and alleged intentions of gathering another generation of the Legendary Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. The last one had proven to be nothing more than trouble as all members aside from Chōjirō, Mei's heir, went rogue. That involves one Kisame of the Akatsuki. I am sure we all find both names familiar. The ambassador stated that two members had been assembled, one being the only remaining one and the other being a mystery figure. Shikamaru Nara had been sent to investigate this issue and discover both the validity of these rumors and Yūgao's sudden disappearance. He came back in one peace and with a concrete answer to only one of those questions." He paused.

"How was the mission a success then?" Temari enquired. As thrilled as she was about her husband's safety, some things just didn't add up.

"…because the Swordsmen aren't being refunded, but found out the underlying cause for the rumor which started it in the first place." Gaara's gaze was piercing and Yamato chose his words very carefully. "Mei Terumi had, at some point, seemingly gotten her hands on one of Orochimaru's old toys. Perhaps, she didn't want to share so this person's identity had been kept secret. Shikamaru gathered evidence of her alleged capabilities and after we had consulted our leading chakra and bloodline limit experts, we concluded that it would have been impossible for the Sannin to gather specimen of those kekkei-genkai in the Land of Waves, since they are only found in the Land of Earth. What we seek from you is consultation with Suna's geologists."

As Yamato spoke, Temari glanced sideways at her brother's deepening frown. He was still in his seat, while the information made her slightly nauseous. Yamato's story was delivered in a monotone. Her heart still beating quickly, she took long breaths to help focus on the serious matter at hand.

Yamato shifted in his seat, giving the siblings a moment to process before continuing. "This person has been given a nickname of some sort and our last Hokage seems to have recognized it as well. Akira Suizen, whatever she is, most definitely had to have been made in the Land of Earth, where Orochimaru was known to have had a few labs in his day. Judging by the fact Kakashi briefly fought her in Iwa, ten years ago, it seems as if she had been traded for peace after the war or even prior to it."

"Meaning that our friends have a secret alliance that we didn't know about." Gaara concluded.

"Or a secret weapon..." Temari growled, clenching her fists.

"As for the question which has actually been answered this time around…" Yamato took a small leather bag out of his pouch and opened it, letting the contents spill onto the table. Gaara's eyes widened as a palm-sized translucent stone slipped into his hand. In the luminescent depths of the pale matter, he could clearly see one side of a face rimmed by purple ropes of hair.

"Shikamaru also seems to have found some of the remains of Uzumi Yūgao."

* * *

An iridescent outline - a body coated in a thin layer of sweat which reflected a weak flame illuminating the dimly lit bedroom from above - the warmth of the body which rested upon his pelvis entirely - Naruto's senses were in overdrive.

The woman whom he had reached climax with began to shift from her straddling position, rolling onto her side, next to him.

Her hair resembled a spill of black ink as it cascaded across his bed sheets. The sound of her heavy breathing made him ignorant of his own as he stared sideways at her tilted visage in awe. Her glossy eyes were half lidded and glued to the distant broken chandelier with only one candle lit, pink lips slightly agape. Her skin glistened and shadows danced across her barely visible naked form as her chest continued to rise and fall. Their bodies were filtered in the fire's orange, black and white in the dark, caressed by only the weakest of moonlight. She sighed.

No words could explain how beautiful Hyuuga Hinata was to him.

"Naruto…" The sound of her voice rang. She didn't turn to face her equally exposed lover although she felt his attentive gaze on her.

"Yes?" He heaved in a raspy and tired tone, running a single bandaged digit down the side of her bare neck.

"Why did you call me here?" She asked softly, yet barely gathering the air to do so. The earth shattering release still left her with tremors which soothed and shook her musculature.

"Do I need a reason to do so?" His recovery was speedier than hers. Turquoise eyes followed her lean silhouette as she heaved before pulling herself together, wiping warm sweat off her pale temple. The weight of her head was shifted off his forearm and for a moment he was left to marvel at her backside before she grabbed a thin piece of clothing from inside of the open drawer and pulled it over her shoulders to cover herself.

The white silk hung from her like second skin. Naruto too shifted to sit up in the king sized bed, surrounded by disheveled mattress, witnesses of their sinful act. Hinata peeked through the gap in the closed curtains.

They were never able to leave the windows open during their meetings and love making for that matter. Enough scandal was stirred at the notion of the young Hokage running for office while still a bachelor, in spite of being spoken for. Even though their relationship was not a secret, it was highly controversial and dreaded by many. What made it even more despicable were the abominable years the pair had spent together without tying the knot.

Hinata didn't need to be told those things.

Every night in Naruto's inherited wooden mansion above the village was one she swore to be their last. She was truly disgusted of herself.

Fighting off the goosebumps which attacked her at the sudden gust of wind which entered through the open door of thr grand bedroom, she turned towards the tan blond who watched her hazily. He was undeniably a handsome sight to see. She softened.

His hair had slightly grown and came to tickle and stick to his forehead. His eyes gleamed in the relative darkness of the room, lingering on her in recollection of their previous ministration and to him preferably, many more to come.

Hinata sighed.

"We don't do date nights, Naruto. We haven't done date nights in over a year, baby." She uttered, trying to falter his lustful visage. In midst of attempting to prove her point she was glad that the taller male had pulled some sheets over his pelvis. Tucking a silky strand of hair behind her ear, she strolled over to the bed, resting a pale knee on its edge. "Where is it?" She asked softly as he failed to produce a response.

Finally did he run a hand through unruly blond locks, appearing somewhat vicious for a moment. He had changed from the boy she had fallen in love with.

Naruto chuckled into the palm of his hand, miserably hiding his dismay. "I was hoping it could wait until later." His eyes finally rested on her own lilac ones and she forced a small smile. "We could have dinner first." He hopefully remarked, searching her face for something. Hinata shook her head, appearing not to be shaken by the situation. Naruto knew better than to believe that.

"I really don't feel like eating ramen noodles in bed tonight." Hinata sounded sympathetic, yet her words were never to be taken lightly. Then, seeing her lover's visage twist into a small frown, she repeated herself.

"Where is it, Naruto?" Patiently, she asked.

"It's in the bottom drawer." He lightly pointed at the only piece of furniture aside from the bed which the room contained. With a brief nod, Hinata moved a few steps to the side and deftly opened the drawer before pulling out an elaborate scroll.

It was painted in a blood red color with a single firm stamp sealing it.

"An S-rank, huh?" Hinata hummed as she twirled it in her hands. Naruto had pulled on a pair of boxers for the sake of professional modesty. The girl did not bother opening it. "Makes sense." A pained smile graced her features and Naruto felt like air was punched out of his lungs.

"There was nobody else I could have given it to. It's not necessarily dangerous, it's merely top secret. It might also take some time, but your squad is the best at these things." He tried to ease her somehow, but clumsily so.

"That's not the problem, Naruto. I appreciate the trust you put in us." Hinata collected her thoughts and chose her words wisely still a couple of feet away from his disarray. "I really do, but… you don't need to do this." It was a vague suggestion but to Naruto it was self explanatory.

"Hinata, I'm sorry, I really am, but-" He started but was cut off. "Don't bother, please." She uttered and he seethed for a minute, noting the protective stance of her hands crossed over her chest seemingly leisurely. They had been together for too long for him to mistake the posture as such. "We've barely had a dozen conversations ever since you became Hokage a year ago and I hardly have a life beyond the ANBU now. You keep wanting to mix business with pleasure, Naruto, and it isn't healthy." She pleaded. "If you are going to give me an assignment do so like a professional, don't lure me into your bed and then…" Hinata halted to contain the tears which threatened to spill from her waterline.

"I don't want us to be this way, you know." He started, seriously, as he pulled Hinata by the wrist to sit on the bed in front of him. Her knees went limp once they hit the mattress and bounced there for a second, the faint smell of sweat and their natural scents filling the atmosphere. "I don't like only getting to see you for missions and reports, I don't enjoy us having sex here or in my office as much as I should. I want to marry you and make love to you every day for the rest of my life in a bedroom in a house we could call our own."

He stopped to bite his lip at the sight of tears gathering in her eyes. "We could start a family one day and raise kids, grow old together." He ran his hand across her flushed cheek as she fought the urge to cry. Naruto heaved shakily at her expression. "But you don't want that anymore, do you..?"

Then, he pulled her into an embrace. He did not comment on the wetness which stained his bare shoulder and he did not let her slip out of his arms. "It's alright." He said. "It's not like you owe me any time anyways…"

* * *

"It is only a matter of time before they part ways, Father." The teenager's feminine voice was notably more poised than usual as she poured tea into her father's cup before filling her own.

"How is it that you are so sure, Hanabi?" Hyuuga Hiashi questioned eloquently while picking up the warm drink and bringing it to his lips.

After hours of excruciating training with his youngest, a break on the porch of their private training ground was a refreshing treat which was slightly less sweet while clouded by dreaded topics such as his eldest's scandalous love life. Not to mention that he dreaded Hanabi's ugly habit of gossiping with the maids and other village girls in her leisure time.

"Hinata does not desire to marry the young Hokage. I know it for sure." Hanabi began to elaborate. "He is very much in love with her, that much has not changed. However, her feelings are somewhat indecisive. Hinata is too kind to reject him once and for all, but too rational to give her hand to a man whom she doesn't love enough to do so willingly. Many say that she has established an affair with Naruto's previous sensei, Hatake Kakashi."

Hiashi absorbed the information as the pleasant aroma of mountain herbs filled his senses. No thirsty Hyuuga was a good Hyuuga. "I will not listen to your gossip, Hanabi. Although, as much as it breaks my heart to hear that Hinata will potentially miss out on such an opportunity as marrying the Hokage is, I am more concerned over the reason behind her recent… breakdown." He bitterly pronounced as the words awkwardly rolled down the tip of his tongue.

"I would all but call it recent, Father. It was a long time coming." Hanabi begged to differ.

"I agree the loss of Neji could have been a turning point. It is one of the few things she has confessed to us." Hiashi remarked. His tone dropped as both family members suddenly tensed. There were no people on the compound who would understand what they were speaking of, although it didn't make them any less wary. Regaining his posture, Hiashi took another sip of his flowery drink. It had a pleasantly bitter undertone, much like everything else in his placid life.

"Frankly, there is no way to blame her for all of the distress she has suffered." Hanabi muttered more casually than Hiashi would've liked as she rocked her feet back and forth as her calves dangled down the porch.

"Hinata has proven herself capable enough to handle this burden on her own, I believe." Hiashi said, hoping for their discussion to reach an end. "If she wishes the matter to remain a private one, her decision should be respected. It is an abnormality too… abnormal, to consider as anything more than a passing occurrence in the clan's history. Believe me, I am as curious as you are, but we must protect her from the prying eyes of others."

"But, Father, we do not even know how great of a burden she is carrying!" Hanabi said in a whisper even though the main house was vacant with the exception of a maid who was too far to hear their conversation, feel them or see them.

Hiashi frowned as his daughter continued in a more civil manner. "I apologize… Nevertheless, we are yet to discover what has led Hinata to experience such a change. What makes her different than the rest of us in the family, dead or alive?" She pondered. Yes, Hanabi was slightly jealous. Yes, she still understood the gravity of the situation. However she was moreover worried about her sister.

"We may suspect that Neji's demise was at fault, we may suspect that Hinata's little adventure to the moon and interaction with the Tenseigan had triggered her… optical mutation. For all we know, it might be a disease. The psychological damage has been done, but she is using her skills for the best of the village's interest." Hiashi concluded. "The most important thing is to protect her eyes and to trust that she will continue to handle herself as is fit for a Hyuuga of Hinata's caliber."

Hanabi grew silent with a nod of the head. Hiashi glanced at her petite form as she consumed the tea while still deep in thought over his proclamation. "Does Lord Hokage know about it?" The head of the clan spoke with an unshaken visage, averting his gaze to a far point on the cloudless sky.

"He must." Hanabi shifted. "Hinata is in the Ops, Father. There is not a thing about the ANBU that Uzumaki Naruto doesn't know. If so, she must keep no secrets from Hatake Kakashi. After all, the only people she does allow to explore her eyes are him and his team, whoever they might be." She insisted.

"You'd be surprised at how much goes on behind that young man's back… I am afraid that it will take more warming up for him to get things under control." Hiashi rolled his shoulders. "Even so, I suppose, their ongoing relationship complicates the situation even further. How deep if a bond that one is, we will never know." He sighed into the cup before drinking the remaining tea. Hanabi faltered at the rare display of worry her father briefly exhibited.

She pondered.

"Their bond runs deep, although their… romance, I hear, is slightly different than it used to be. Naruto is busy and so is Hinata. They rarely have time for one another. It seems to prevent my sister from thinking it through clearly. She is very much invested in her duty as a ninja, she's rarely in town. There are rumors swirling all over the place. I genuinely do not know what to make of all of them." It would've been farfetched to say that Hanabi wasn't proud of the person her sister had become.

"It is out of character of her." Hiashi said. His youngest blinked at him, scooping up her lower limbs and crossing them while he sat with long legs impeccably folded beneath him. The Hyuuga elegance was one of the few things Hanabi failed to inherit from her father and Hinata did.

"What do you mean by 'out of character'?" The short brunette questioned. The clan head heaved while refilling his own cup with tea. He couldn't blame his flabbergasted daughter for not noticing its emptiness herself. She never had an eye for fine manners, although she made up for it in brute force.

"What I mean is that Hinata never enjoyed combat and I have every reason to believe that she still does not." He elaborated.

Hanabi slowly comprehended his explanation. "It does seem odd that missions appear to be bringing her joy."

Hiashi scoffed. "They can't be… Tell me, Hanabi, how long has it been ever since you've last indulged in a real conversation with your sister? Or, have you recently started regarding her as a fictional character civilians like to tell stories about?"

The girl's eyes widened reluctantly. It had never occurred to her. She remained silent as she averted her gaze to the formerly warm drink she held in hand.

"I suppose that you are also oblivious to the fact that Hinata's relationship with the Hokage is predominantly sexual at the moment." Hiashi spoke without hesitation whilst Hanabi nearly choked on her own spit.

She was sixteen and extroverted, but she had never felt comfortable admitting to herself that her kind elder sister was an adult who did adult things she had not. "It… has not crossed my mind, father."

Hiashi grunted in approval. "Truly, I had never perceived Hinata to be the type to seek stress relief in the form of violence and obscenity, but God knows what sorts of changes her body and mind have all gone through to achieve this mysterious ability. I do wish that she could be more open with us, but I have proven myself not to be the best of parents."

Hanabi flushed in discomfort as she hid her face behind a thick curtain of dark hair. She peeked at her father's eerily indifferent expression. "She really loved him, you know." She whispered awkwardly. The Hinata she knew was the only person in the world kind and emphatic enough to embrace such a flawed person with all of her being.

"I believe she might still do. But what do we know." Having said that as if it were the most mundane of things, Hiashi tilted his regal chin upwards. "Trust your sister, Hanabi. She might be confused, but she is still the same person she used to be. Now, go better your appearance." He turned to face her, suddenly appearing stern.

"We have an unexpected guest."

One moment too late, as Hiashi Hyuuga smoothly stood up from the wooden porch, Hanabi sensed an oddly familiar presence in front of the gates to their compound. She gasped in realization as she stumbled to gather the tea cups on the iron tray and carry them over to the kitchen before ridding herself of the sweaty and worn grey training gown which flowed behind her with each hurried step she took.

* * *

"You're late." Aburame Shino didn't bother with turning around in his seat to face his incompetent teammate and his hound who made their way to the third and final chair surrounding a round table while muttering apologies.

Hinata stayed silent at her end, inwardly marveling at the expense of the wonderfully sculpted high ceiling of their meeting room in the ANBU's HQ. It had absolutely no windows and was sealed with dozens of techniques. It was a circular shape and adorned with dozens of plain shelves which carried hundreds of colorful scrolls from missions they had completed together as an ANBU unit. The walls were the color of dry dirt, organically, carrying the same aroma.

She inhaled and exhaled patiently before turning to smile at her tardy friend. "I'm glad you could make it, Kiba."

The Inuzuka male reciprocated with an awkward stutter, eyeing her. No, there was no visual significance or a change in her appearance. Kiba could smell the events of last night woven through her skin as he furrowed his brows in distaste, avoiding her gaze suddenly. Hinata's visage returned to a state of calm, hiding her discomfort more deftly than Kiba did his disgust.

"I was given the scroll yesterday." Hinata informed. "Yes, I have taken my time to study it." Shino nodded in her direction respectfully. There were several candles burning which the girl had lit upon her arrival.

"What is it?" Kiba hastily questioned, rubbing the top of Akamaru's head. The table was low enough for him to rest his chin on a rounded edge of its surface comfortably.

"Uchiha Sasuke needs to be found and retrieved after his years long… journey. Before parting, he had signed a contract with the previous Hokage in which he consented to being at Konoha's disposal if a situation called for his help or influence." Shino elaborated while tracing neat kanji written in dry ink on silky paper. Hinata sighed and her other male companion growled.

"That all? Why can't they just summon him with a messenger hawk or something?" He asked. All were familiar with the fact that, while his teammates would always settle for a good chase, Kiba did enjoy battle more than he should've. Tracking missions tended to bore him, yet he was aware of the important role he played in them and was too loyal to his team to explicitly complain.

"As stated in the contract, the Uchiha is not obliged to report to anyone or disclose his location at any point." Shino murmured.

Glancing sideways at him, Hinata took out a small handkerchief from her single kunai pouch and motioned it to the man. With a small appreciative nod, Shino took the cloth into his hand and took off his elaborate shades in order to polish them whilst revealing expressive chocolate brown eyes which focused on the writing. The cool air of the condensed room caressed his pale eyelids in an unfamiliar manner.

"I can't stand that guy." Kiba rubbed his own eyes as he rocked in his chair. Hinata pondered for a moment.

"Do we have any clues as to his current location?" She asked, expression soft yet collected. This was a professional meeting. Even the hound master straightened eventually.

"Multiple sources have suggested that Uchiha Sasuke has recently been seen somewhere northeast in the Land of Lightning." Shino started. "Others report spotting him near the border of the Hidden Grass."

Hinata sighed, lacing her fingers together. "Those are in completely opposite directions. How do we filter through all of this?" She asked, gazing at her comrades inquisitively.

"Every idiot with an emo bang and the right amount of black on them can pass off as Uchiha Sasuke nowadays." Kiba said, battling his frustration with a snicker.

"I agree that he certainly does have common basic features. To people who've only heard descriptions of him, or if ever, only seen him once or twice, it would be fairly easy to mistake someone else for the last Uchiha." Shino heaved before rolling the scroll back into its original state and tucking it neatly in one of the many internal pockets of his coat.

"So, now we meditate, huh?" Hinata hummed. "It doesn't appear as if we have any actual lead." The girl reasoned.

Kiba nodded. "What do you say, Captain?" He asked, glancing at Shino whilst drumming long calloused digits against the stone table.

"Now we meditate." The leader confirmed.

Yes, first came meditation. There was a fine science to being the most efficient tracking unit in all of ninja history, and Team 8 knew it by heart. It always began in their assembly room in the ANBU headquarters. There the missions were thoroughly studied and planned, for hours on end if needed so. It was in the nature of their specialty to choose the least time consuming alternatives as well as the safest ones. Scouts were not to get hurt in battle. Scouts always had more people they needed to scout.

The mission of Uchiha Sasuke's retrieval was an S-rank for multiple reasons. First and foremost was one which only the most loyal of ANBU knew - Uchiha Sasuke was very much not only traveling abroad. And yes, no one was supposed to know of his mission or upcoming return to Konoha but the most trusted of personnel.

"Do we know why Naruto wants him back all of a sudden?" Kiba pondered.

"The matter has not been disclosed." Shino stoically responded.

"…and, are you sure he'll voluntarily follow us back here?" The Inuzuka finally leaned in his chair, ready to seal the deal when Hinata replied instead.

"Lord Hokage has guaranteed docile behavior on Uchiha Sasuke's part."

Kiba's lips thinned. "I'll need a piece of his belongings. Anything that carries any amount of his scent." He explained. "I would most definitely recognize it should it come across, but he's been out and about for… four years now? I haven't seen him since we were eighteen."

"You should go to his abandoned place. It's most likely that there you will find what you need." Shino said before glancing at Hinata's silent form.

Then she spoke up. "Will my services be needed?" Shino reciprocated her inquiry with an affirmative nod.

"I hate overworking you, but if it is possible, your involvement in the initial search would be of great assistance. The only tricky part of this mission seems to be locating the target, and as it is of great importance, we should finish it as quickly as possible."

Hinata flashed him a dismissive smile. "It's alright. I never really paid enough attention to memorise his chakra signature... In that case, I'll need a picture. I haven't seen him in a decade. I can hardly recall what he looks like."

"Sakura should have one in her panty drawer." Kiba felt horrible snickering like that at a business meeting, but nobody would blame him. His companions muffled their chuckles.

"I'll be making a stop at the hospital tonight, then." Hinata said conclusively.

"And I'll look for some of Uchiha's dirty laundry." Kiba gagged.

"In my possession there is a kikaichu who has fed off our target's chakra before. It should be enough for me to begin my meditation."

"I assume we'll all probably be able to begin the process by midnight." Hinata turned to them and said inquisitively.

Shino nodded. "I shall be meditating in the woods behind the Aburame estate this time around. Fall is approaching." He informed the pair as he rose to his feet, brushing the cold surface of the table with the tips of his fingers.

Akamaru barked as he propped himself up while his master mirrored their team leader. "I'll be on the Fourth's head, respectively. Same as usual. The air currents clash well up there. I should be able to break down scents without a problem as it's quite windy these days. At least I'm not picky with my spots." He grinned at the slightly older hooded male who replied stubbornly.

"Different sorts of insects seek different environments during different seasons, Kiba." He defended with an awkward glare before pulling on the shades again. His pale hands were then stuffed into his pockets, habitually.

Hinata suppressed a giggle with the back of her hand, having risen to her feet soundlessly. "It wouldn't hurt to take a joke every once in a while, Shino." She patted the lean brunette's hair with a rare physical display of sisterly affection. He failed to produce a response as he merely hid a tug at the corner of his lips.

* * *

"What is it that I can do for you at this hour, Hinata?" Sakura observed the pale beauty who politely knocked and slipped into her office.

"I need you to give me a picture of Uchiha Sasuke." She spoke outwardly. The medic cocked her head in confusion.

"I just need to see it… please." Hinata's doe eyes bore into her own.

Sakura raised her eyebrows. "Why would you-" Then she went silent, mug faltering. "Oh." She simply breathed. "Oh." Sakura repeated in a conflicted whisper, looking down at her paperwork which was quickly forgotten.

"Yes." Hinata uttered. Her hair was cascading down her back and she was dressed in thigh length pale kimono and boots. It was clearly not her ANBU attire. Sakura looked up again. "When do you start?" She asked.

"When meditation is complete. We have no knowledge of his whereabouts right now, so we'll leave once the first clues surface." Hinata sympathetically elaborated, taking a seat in front of the girl. "We begin meditation at midnight in a few hours." She said.

Sakura buried her face in the palms of her hands, pen dropping to the side of her desk, elbows resting upon it. Heaving against her own skin, she did not conceal her dismay in front of the Hyuuga. It would've been pointless. There were very few things in the world which Konoha's white eye didn't see. Hintata could even hear the girl's blood rushing and heart beating frantically.

"This… meditation. How long does it last?" She lifted her head and curled her fingers beneath her chin, face flushed with anticipation and frustration.

It had been four years.

"There is no way to know. Kiba will begin dissecting particles of smells traveling through dozens of air currents. Shino already has some of Sasuke's chakra and his kikaichu will start searching the Lands, and once I find a picture… I will do my thing." Hinata paused.

Sakura didn't falter anymore. Out of the few people aware of her exceptionality, only one or two knew exactly what 'Hinata's thing' was. Unfortunately, Sakura was not one of those people, but she had learned to quiet down her raging curiosity.

"It might take days, assuming that he's far away. We will try our best. The meditation process is founded on natural energy and focus. Regardless, it is continuous. Once we go into hibernation we won't stop searching until we've acquired something. You can trust that we will bring him back as soon as possible, but I also ask of you not to make this a public matter. It is top secret." Hinata finished, careful not to disclose too many details on the process. Sakura noticed.

She swiftly rubbed her tired eyes clean of pooling tears and nodded. "I wasn't planning on doing that. You guys know what you're doing." She flashed her guest a pained smile which was reciprocated with a similar one.

"So what about that picture?" Hinata shifted in her seat awkwardly. She hated hurrying her, but neither were the two exceptionally close nor did she have much time to spare. Her good intentions didn't go unnoticed. Sakura laughed sheepishly before taking out a small piece of glossy paper out of the pocket of her white medical gown.

Hinata curled her fingers around it and noted the youthful appearances of a genin team consisting of her friend, her bitter lover, her target, and her previous Hokage and mentor. What a bunch. The avenger's face was easily distinguished by a trademark snarl. It freshened her memory from their early years.

"That's all I've got." Sakura fidgeted hopefully, searching for approval on the female scout's face.

She sighed. "Sakura… I'm not sure whether I can work with this."

The pink haired medic sunk in her chair helplessly. "I'm so sorry… I don't have any other pictures of him, I don't know whether he's changed from the last time we've seen each other." She sobbed.

"Kiba said something about you having one in your panty drawer..." Hinata sheepishly peeked up at the girl, trying to lure a laugh out of her or at least counter some of her depression.

She did chuckle, wiping a tear from her flushed cheeks. "My panty drawer isn't nearly as exciting as Kiba might suspect." She rolled her shoulders.

"I'm rotting in this hospital day after day, I barely ever sleep. I haven't been on a mission in years, I have nothing but piles of stress and paperwork, I cause earthquakes and scream at people to ease my nerves. And then there's this man who promised to come back on his own and while I'm waiting and convincing myself how good I'm doing, I one day look at myself in the mirror and just see a sleep deprived twenty two year old virgin who is physically shrinking in places she can't afford to be shrinking in." Sakura's voice broke near the end as she muffled a sob with the back of her fist.

Hinata bit her lip in empathy. "Sakura…" She called out to the girl, her hand creeping across the table offering to hold her own. The medic did, and unsurprisingly she had a firm grip.

"Tell me, Hinata." She leaned in slightly, tear stained cheeks gleaming in the white light of the room. The Hyuuga noted she even smelled of soap and disinfectant. "What does sex feel like?" She uttered.

Hinata suddenly felt a burning sensation storm across her pale cheeks as she cupped the other side of her face with a free hand.

"S-Sakura!" She stuttered, but the girl was persistent. "Please, Hinata! I don't know who else I would ask, and I don't know anyone who has sex as much as you do!" She insisted.

Hinata's eyes went wide. "There are lots of people who have lots of s-sex, oh God, I'm stuttering again!" As she attempted to stand up, Sakura firmly tugged her by the hand and unintentionally sent her nearly halfway across the desk before falling back into her chair.

Yes, Sakura did not exactly know that she and Naruto had been having trouble in paradise for quite a while.

"Hinata, you're an adult." The words stung and the girl's lips thinned. "How old were you when you first did it?" Sakura asked. Hinata took a moment to evaluate the extent of determination on the girl's face. She was skilled enough to leave the room in a million ways, but running just didn't feel like an option.

"Eighteen." The word felt like a slip of a tongue. Sakura sighed. "I was nineteen then, wasn't I… So? How was it?" All sorts of emotions flew across her face. Hinata could clearly see the turbulent mood driven by her insomnia. "It felt… good." She confessed.

A sardonic smile crept up Sakura's features. "Doesn't it usually hurt a bit?"

Hinata bit her lip. "That would be because of the hymen, but a lot of the times kunoichi have theirs broken during battle or prior physical activity. Sakura, I thought you knew these things!" She cried.

Sakura laughed aloud. "I really want to stop reading about sex from textbooks." She whined. "Tell me more!" Her legs were dangling back and forth beneath the table. Hinata felt trapped and the clock above Sakura's pink head was counting two hours until midnight. She looked her in the eye.

"Sex is… nice. It's the best when you do it with someone you love. Ahm… As always it's important to be safe and consensual. What else… Naruto and I were both each other's firsts, so it was clumsy. Nevertheless, it was a few months after the battle on the moon, in his old apartment and it was…" Hinata paused before a small, awkward smile graced her flawless visage and her voice went thin. "…it was romantic. We were really happy back then."

Sakura blinked while letting go of her hand. The medic just stared at her for a moment, still fighting her anxiety and trying to ease her nerves with heavy breathing. "Is it true?" She asked. Hinata remained ponderously silent, raising her eyebrows. Sakura continued. "Is it true that you will break up with him?" She finished.

Hinata's lips went agape. "Where did you hear that?" She asked.

Sakura frowned. "Everywhere, but… I didn't want to believe it. So it's true?" As the brunette was going to speak again, Sakura interrupted her. "Ino told me you've been going through a rough patch. I get that this thing is messing with your body and mind, but Hinata he's beyond head over heels for you."

The look Sakura was giving her made Hinata nearly drown in self-hate. She then pressed her knuckles against her lips, eyes growing reluctantly glossier by second as they stared to the corner of the room while Sakura stared her down, grabbing her other hand again.

"Hinata, you need to answer me. If this is true-" She inhaled and exhaled patiently, not wanting to stir the girl beyond her limits. They were both fighting their own battles. People healed from broken hearts and she was aware that love would find her sometime. Hinata was fighting herself, along with an unfamiliar force which was turning her world upside down. Sakura didn't understand it. Nobody but a selected few did.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore." The Hyuuga confessed in between sniffles. That was only one of the handful of truths she could disclose to her.

"Hinata, look at me." Sakura tugged on the girl's fingers, making her comply.

That look on her face. She was falling apart.

"I need you to remind me… when was your last exam?" Sakura's professional and motherly side were beginning to overtake her and Hinata struggled to come up with a response.

"Y-Yesterday." Hinata stuttered.

Sakura frowned before harshly turning the pale girl's wrist and pulling her sleeve up to examine her entire arm for puncture marks. She struggled as the pink haired medic did the same to her other limb, digits digging deep into her skin. "You haven't had a needle in you in at least a month. I'll ask you one last time, Hinata, when was your last exam?" Sakura demanded.

"Wintertime." The Hyuuga confessed.

"Hinata!" Sakura was frustrated. "You can't skip these things. I can't believe the ANBU let you do that! It's irresponsible! You're the last person I'd ever expect this from!" And then it started to settle in the pit of her stomach, the realization. Hinata was also the last person in the world she would've expected to fall out of love with someone she wanted for so many years. Sakura admitted to herself inwardly that her lifestyle made her blind and oblivious to what was happening in her friends' lives. Naruto would've normally been her first priority, but the girl in front of her was her patient at the moment, in her hospital. She turned around to glance at the clock before facing the Hyuuga.

"You have fifty minutes until midnight. Twenty is all I ask for. Then you can find Sai and ask him to draw you a picture of Sasuke."

She quickly shook her head, a look of panic jarring her pale mug. "You know I can't do that, Sakura."

Hinata grew serious. "I'm sure the Ops wouldn't mind you taking a blood test, just to see if you're eating well."

"I'm eating just fine, Sakura." Hinata brushed her off more harshly than she would've liked, but Sakura was not the one to back down especially in front of other women.

"Listen here, if you're gonna break my best friend's heart, you at least owe me proof that you aren't doing it because you're lacking beauty sleep, okay?"

And there she went, pulling the Naruto card. Hinata's arms smelled like ethanol that night and she didn't find it in her to complain once Sakura began to stray away from her "bloodwork only" promise. The procedure would not be documented, and there was nothing she could find anyways. Right?

* * *

Yamanaka Ino and her favorite boy-toy were dangerously close to doing the nasty on his couch during a commercial break of an irrelevant movie which was being played on his newly purchased TV.

His shirt was already discarded somewhere on the wooden floor tiles and her lips were praising the lean muscle of his neck. Sai's arms curled around her waist pulling the blonde beauty closer and just as his fingers crept under her crop top and dangerously close to the hook of her bra, a knock came from the door.

After an attempt of ignoring the intruder and their polite persistence reflecting in the way the number of knocks grew in quantity steadily after each break, Sai stood up and opened it. The tall form of one Hyuuga Hinata was staring up at him with an uncomfortable pout. He was shirtless indeed, but Hinata was more worried about the late hour of her sudden visit.

In a swift motion, she brought her hands to her sides and bowed deeply with much Hyuuga grace. "I apologize for my intrusion." Sai faltered, scratching his bare chest as cold air startled him.

"Hinata, you do not need to be so formal. Feel free to… come in." He said glancing at the blonde behind him who had in the meanwhile adjusted her fallen ponytail.

"What brings you here?" She asked as the brunette took off her shoes and neatly placed them far enough from the pair's own.

"I need Sai's help with something." Hinata said before turning to the said male. "It shouldn't take much time. This is a business matter and I wouldn't have come here at such an hour if it could have been delayed."

Sai nodded in understanding as he motioned to her to kneel by a low table resting behind the couch in his spacious loft. "You are my friend. I wouldn't mind doing you a favor anytime regardless of your motives." Sai insisted. Ino gave him a sweet and proud smile before she positioned herself behind Hinata and began to tie her hair into a high ponytail. It startled the girl, but she left her friend to it. Judging by the state of the living room, it was obvious what she had almost walked in on.

"I need you to draw me an accurate depiction of Uchiha Sasuke. It is very much required for our team's meditation process which begins at midnight." Hinata elaborated steadily and professionally. She was lucky that both of them were permitted access to top secret information. Ino was an interrogator in the Ops (having been trained by Ibiki) while Sai was a part-time member. Moreover, the pointed upper half of Sai's seal of Confidence peeked at his two companions as Sai's baggy pants hung low on his hips. The pair had grown close at a time when Ino was tasked as his psych consultant during the process of treating mental damage of ex-Root members. Before Ibiki asked her to start learning under him and continue his leverage, she was training to be a therapist with a focus on PTSD victims.

"Ah." Sai acknowledged. "I've always found your ways beyond intriguing." He smiled in his trademark fashion before standing up. "I'll be back with the drawing in a minute. It should be as accurate as humanly possible and recent as it can be. I was one of the last people to see him depart." With a polite nod, he walked through a door on the opposite side of the living room and shut it behind him.

After Ino finished playing with Hinata's hair, she set down some tea for them. "I heard all people of your clan have a tea fetish, is that true?" She pondered half-humorously.

Hinata chuckled into her cup. "I would be foolish to deny that, but my Hyuuga pride prohibits me from confirming it too."

Ino laughed lightly as she dusted some sugar into her own cup which Hinata politely declined. "If that pride wove itself into the most selfless person I know, I will begin to suspect that it comes with the Byakugan itself." Hinata nodded good-naturedly. Ino was a smart girl.

"Why don't you come see me anymore?" She asked with hidden disappointment.

Hinata placed her drink onto the table. "I've been busy." She shrugged.

"What I hear is that you've been making yourself busy." A forced smile didn't leave her doll-like features. It seemed as if people in love really did look alike.

"You could say that…" Hinata sighed. "I am ashamed to admit that I seem to have been running from my problems as Sakura likes to put it. I came to her first in search of Sasuke's photograph." She laughed awkwardly, scratching the roots of her well done hair.

"Did she force some tests on you?" Ino questioned eyeing the small red dot tainting Hinata's pale wrist. It did awfully resemble a needle mark and it was not the kind of injury people got in battle.

"Just earlier." She drank and observed the whirls of evaporated substance leave the cup. "She doesn't think I have things under control." Hinata said.

Ino noted the girl's pallid expression. "You may think that overworking yourself is a way to pass time and do some justice to this ability that you've gained, but it's not. The two of you are actually doing the same thing. The only difference is that Sakura is aware of how pathetic she seems and you're in denial. But the instability they all speak of… well, you've done quite a convincing job on that." Ino spoke confidently. Unlike anyone in the world, she had followed Hinata's mental progress for years and knew the way her mind functioned. "I heard you are going to call it quits with Naruto. Do it. You're too selfless to be happy in that relationship." She stated curtly. Ino was impeccably clever.

Hinata blinked. "I know I am, but we are actually both being selfish about this." She was a woman of fewer words. She didn't do expression the justice Ino did.

"Naruto may say he's happy with just sex, but he's not and you're miserable because you know that your visions don't collide." She elaborated.

"They used to, but they don't anymore." Hinata finished with a sigh. "He is so gentle." Then she started again, guilt driven. "Naruto has always wanted protection. He's always wanted stability and security. Family values are his guidelines. He should know by now that I'm not going to give him what he wants. He probably does. I've told him a million times, but he's still very hopeful."

"It's just that good, huh?" Ino snickered, petting her guest on the back. The girl just smiled mildly and stared into the distance.

"I do love him." Her voice broke.

And that was one thing that only Yamanaka Ino knew - a hidden consequence of a mysterious power nobody grew as familiar with as her and one copycat ninja. Hyuuga Hinata had no change of heart. It was just a cover-up.

"I began seeing things after Neji died… But then, I saw us." Hinata whispered as if her words would leak through the walls. "I saw us in the future. He was so handsome." She let out a pained laugh as tears tickled her cheeks. Ino stared. "I saw us when we first kissed. I saw our children after we first made love. But then… when he asked me to move in…" She paused and Ino knew the remaining story. "I saw him die for me. And then, my eyes opened for the first time."

The blonde listened carefully before asking another question. "Have you had any other visions lately?" Hinata shook her head. "Not prominently… Sometimes it's hard to distinguish dreams from predictions, but most of the time they're just mundane. I'd see a face I'll see in the streets, or a mission we'll get soon enough. However, I've been practicing gaining control over my Byakugan myself. Usually once I activate it, there is no telling when it will subside. Now I can at least encourage it to go away at command. It doesn't always work, but it's progress. It's only manageable during my meditation. " The tea she drank was the cheapest and most common kind, but by balancing missions and her occasional stays at the Hyuuga compound, it became her favorite since she rarely got to taste it.

"Have you told anybody about the visions yet?" Ino insisted on discussing that very occurrence. She was no dōjutsu expert, so Hinata's words meant little beyond her speciality.

"No. I tell father enough to keep him satisfied, although not nearly as much as there is to tell. Hanabi is worried, but more interested in my… psychological state. Kiba and Shino know the most, I'd say. They know about the visions, although they respect my not wanting to discuss them. As for the physical aspect of it, Kakashi is training me and documenting my progress. You are the only one I let in on the details." Hinata hummed, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"And… do you plan on consenting to that medical trial?" Ino did not look her in the eye while she said that.

Hinata grew silent, briefly. "No."

"All done." Sai strolled into the living room with his signature beam, approaching their table. Hinata took the piece of thick acrylic paper from him with both hands and much care. Looking at it, she noticed Sai hadn't spared her of any details. In the far corner there was a full body drawing, vividly painted in blacks and greys and the remaining space of the large paper was covered with images of his head from many different angles, with his bandana and without, hiding his sharrinegan and exposing it. One depiction of his Mangekyo caught her attention. It's blood red color was hauntingly beautiful. Abruptly, the image of this awesome man made her eyes sting. From her waterlines began to leak two stripes of blue, stopping at her cheekbones. She froze.

"Hinata." Ino's firm voice and Sai's sudden hold on her shoulder shook her from her trance. The blue hastily subsided back into eyes.

"Not yet." Ino continued.

"I'm sorry…" Hinata breathed out, covering her mouth and calming her nerves.

* * *

"For the last time, my answer is no!" Hyuuga Hiashi was seething with his fist against the mahogany table in his private meeting room. He was shaking as the man in front of him merely sighed, gathering his patience.

"Hiashi, your daughter has already signed the contract. My coming to seek your permission is a formality and I hope you understand that your reluctance is not going to stop Hinata from carrying out her decision." Hatake Kakashi explained, hiding the annoyance boiling within him. Nobles were always too proud for their own good. 'Control freaks.', he thought.

"You are lying! There is no way my daughter would've wished such a sentence upon herself!" The clan head yelled, having lost all composure. It was late at night and he was sure that he had woken up his entire peaceful compound, but that didn't matter - not with his youngest silent, shaky lipped and tear stained seated at the far corner of the room.

"Once she became a member of the ANBU Black Ops, she immediately swore her loyalty to the village first and to her clan second." Kakashi stated, looking the fuming Hyuuga in the eye. His Byakugan had turned on at some point during the conversation and veins were now throbbing down his temples and cheeks.

"This isn't a matter of loyalty, this is a matter of principle. All her life, my daughter has fought for the removal and banning of cursed seals! What you are saying is that she wants to imprison herself inside the very cage she has helped hundreds of future generations of young branch Hyuuga escape!" Hiashi couldn't deny the moisture gathering at his waterline. His face was red and Hanabi's whimpers now echoed the room.

"Hinata understands the gravity of her situation, and what she has consented to receiving is very much different from the cursed seal your family had been practicing for centuries. She designed it herself." The copycat elaborated in hopes of ending the argument as soon as possible.

"This major variance you speak of is an ability for her to murder herself at the slightest hint of danger." Hiashi said before screaming. "Hinata is not stable enough to choose between her own life and death!"

Kakashi frowned considerably. "As head of the ANBU's Kekkei-Genkai Exploration and Protection Force, I have been following my subordinate's progress for the past few years. When this optical mutation began and her body was showing irregular symptoms, you did nothing. Months later, after coming back from the Moon and having completed it, I am the person she came to. You refused to leave her under my wing and beheld the consequences."

Hiashi's jaw was shaking, but he listened. It was true.

"Your daughter was scared and back from a mission where she killed a dozen people in a blink of these new eyes of hers. She hated herself and she still does because they could've murdered people she loves and she wouldn't have even known it was happening. We are working on her gaining control over them and she is doing well. Nevertheless, if anybody has the right to say how stable Hyuuga Hinata is in making her own decisions, it's me." Kakashi stood up. "I hoped you would be more rational about this ordeal, but I guess I was wrong. Don't mind my asking of you to remember the nature of the Mangekyo. This Byakugan your daughter has has so far proven itself to be quite similar. It pulls its wielded into a cycle which begins with sacrifice. How it ends..?" He paused, looking away. "I hope to die of old age before I learn."

Silently, the Sixth Hokage ghosted out of the room, leaving uninterrupted by either fear ridden relatives of his junior.

In under a minute, with lightning speed he sprinted off to his humble home. Entering his rooftop apartment through the window, he was welcomed with the sight of his messy bedroom. He had refused all estates offered to him upon becoming Hokage and instead used his old place whilst preserving his family home in the outskirts - there were too many bad memories from the traditional mansion for him to have been able to live in it.

Stripping slowly and peeling off excess layers of heavy clothing, he left his joggers intact. Cool air crept under his bare skin adorned by a small birthmark at the corner of his lips.

He shuddered.

Gliding through the narrow hallway and pushing the door of his guest bedroom open, he saw one Hyuuga Hinata through the darkness, in a meditating position sitting on the neatly made bed with an elaborate drawing of Uchiha Sasuke resting by her side. He scratched the aching muscles of his abdomen.

Her hair was in a bun at the back of her head and the girl was clad in her usual attire. Kakashi sighed, walking over to the edge. Leaning over the bed and bending to her side, he pulled the zipper of one of her boots down and pulled it off her foot. The same motion followed for the left one and he ended up taking the shoes in his arms. By the looks of it, she had begun shortly before he arrived. It made Kakashi wonder what she had been doing in the meanwhile as it was past midnight.

From the empty closet he took out an IV pole equips with the proper anatomy of the device and a banana bag. He sat next to her, took her wrist and following the medical protocol, injecting the cannula-over-needle device into a peripheral vein.

Her eyes were open, but she wasn't looking at him. Hinata didn't even know he was there. Two blue stripes ran down her pale cheeks and neck and up her forehead, along with shorter ones with pointed ends running up the sides of her face to right below her cheekbones, ending sharply, as if painted in an upwards motion. The same color symmetrically framed her eyes. They were wide and empty.

She was meditating.

Inside her mind, in an incomprehensible speed, she was revising faces of all people around her and beyond. In an hour she should've covered the entire village. Although Kakashi was sure she wouldn't have found Sasuke there, the girl had to begin in close proximity of her location in order for the web to grow. She was creating a map in her head and eliminating all places where Uchiha Sasuke's face hadn't been seen by her and memorising chakra signatures to ignore. The process wouldn't end until she found him. The same thing went for her two teammates, although their routine was far less complex and requiring no such thing as her mysterious power-up.

He walked over to the side of the bed and closed the open window. It was becoming cold.

Glancing at her one last time, he exited the room and closed the door behind him. Her boots were folded at the entrance before Kakashi allowed himself to fall into bed and drift off.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto woke up naked and alone in the abandoned summer house of the First Hokage in the woods by the monuments. The scent of mahogany and moist grass tickled his nostrils as he took a first morning breath. It was his second night sleeping in the same room, sporting a state of undress, and the last day he'd spent merely relaxing, going over some scrolls and making the best (and frankly the worst) of his free time.

The night before, his lover had abandoned his side while he'd been asleep. There was a coldness to the mattress he glanced at wistfully.

There was also a vacancy. He ran a bandaged hand over his opposite bicep, staring at the distant sight of the village which peeked at him from behind the floating curtains. She had left through the balcony and hadn't bothered to close it, allowing the air to penetrate the initially cool interior of the glorious wooden mansion which Naruto inherited upon becoming Hokage.

A feeling of bitterness lingered about and Naruto sat up, shaking it off. After their saddening confrontation and another one of Hinata's attempts to let him go, he had made love to her instead of complying. In the comfort of her arms he had fallen asleep, although not doubting for a moment that she wouldn't bat an eye before fleeing after he dozed off.

He didn't want her to feel guilty. He really didn't.

Scratching the back of his head, in all of his toned splendor, he strolled out of the room and down the stairs, ignoring beds of dust which laid around. Once upon a time, Hinata had had the will to stick around and clean it up, fix up a meal and smile all whilst doing it.

A little under a year after they had made it official, Naruto started to notice his lover's turmoil. She told him about her Byakugan. He was happy, but predominantly terrified, having seen first hand what another dōjutsu's superior transformation could do. Naruto really believed them when they said the abrupt change of heart was not her fault.

Yet, he did not want to be let go of.

Having sent Team 8 to search for his best friend, he was quite confident he would be back in under a few weeks. The two had abandoned their clothes at the bottom floor in the living room. His jacket laid on the sofa, his shirt by the empty fireplace, his joggers on the large Persian rug in the hallway and his boxers by his feet at the bottom of the staircase.

He sighed.

Later in the day he had already showered and rid his body of the last of his reluctant lover's lingering warmth.

Back in his apartment, he stepped out of the bathroom with a mere towel wrapped around his waist. He leisurely entered his bedroom, appearing underwhelmed by Sakura's cross-legged form seated on his bed. He picked up a stray t-shirt from his nightstand and dried his hair with it.

"What do you want, Sakura?" He was not in the mood for a rant or a beating, and the medic saw it clearly once she glanced at his bent back over her shoulder. Multiple factors played a role in the assassination of Uzumaki Naruto, the goofball. Although she believed he was still somewhere in there, stress and disappointment had driven him someplace far away. Facing the opposite direction, she heard his tower slip and his clothing ruffle as he got dressed.

"I want you to talk to Hinata." She stated, staring at the old picture of Team 7 which was framed upon his old TV. Naruto snorted - Naruto never snorted.

"I want to talk to Hinata too, you see." He then appeared in front of her. "But Hinata doesn't want to talk to me."

He glanced at his friend tiredly. She was still dressed in her medical attire and the black circles rimming her eyes weren't doing her any justice either. He motioned his hand for her to follow him into his living room. She sat at his dining table as he ventured into the kitchen. Sakura was startled by the lack of feminine touch in his old apartment which currently resembled a mine field.

"She is hiding things from us." Sakura insisted, upset by his absence. He reappeared and sat in front of her, sliding a warm cup of instant noodles and chopsticks in her direction.

"Sakura, this is my only day off in months, I'm really not in the mood to play 'stating the obvious'." Naruto sighed, running a hand through his hair before opening his pack of ramen more aggressively than he had intended to.

"Look!" She heaved, taking out a pile of papers from her bag and pointing at something. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in midst of slurping on his noodles. After swallowing he rolled his eyes. "Sakura, that's just a bunch of numbers and words I don't understand. If you have something to say, just say it." He spat.

Suddenly, the look in the girl's eyes changed. She stiffened and frowned. Naruto put his chopsticks down. "I'm trying to help you solve these ludicrous issues you have and all you do is bark at me? Way to go, Naruto." As she was going to stuff the papers into her bag and storm off, the blond grabbed her wrist, avoiding her gaze.

"I'm sorry." He breathed. "I'm sorry."

Sakura's lips thinned. She couldn't resist the plea of the man whom she considered to be a brother. Brushing his hand away, she pulled the papers out. After glancing at them one last time, she put them aside. Now she had his attention. The ramen was left to cool. Emerald met azure blue as Sakura started.

"All of Hinata's medical records were classified by the ANBU, so I couldn't get a hold of any. However, during the War, the head medics of each camp ran tests on ninjas in their area, and luckily, Hinata had had her exam with Shizune. Because she was the Hokage's assistant at the time, those records were held in the Hokage's private vaults and were later transferred to Lady Tsunade's estate once Kakashi took over."

Naruto raised his eyebrows inquisitively while listening to every word she said. Sakura was content with his focus. Her gaze was determined and her speech captivating.

"Long story short, she kept most of that material in the hospital where I work, Naruto. Obviously, the ANBU didn't remember to confiscate that too. I've been searching for these all night." She insisted.

"The Ops don't just miss things, Sakura. How do you know those aren't fake?" He questioned, scratching his chest and ruffling the oversized, plain white tee with a large red Whirlpool print in the middle.

Sakura smirked. "Not even the ANBU has access to the Hokage's private belongings and Lady Tsunade did not alert anyone of the transaction she made. Besides, even her birth records were sealed. They obviously didn't make any effort to maintain an appearance. Technically, in the citizen data bases, just like all ANBU, Hyuuga Hinata is nothing more than a name." She then merely pointed to the date at the top of the crumpled paper, Naruto paying close attention to it briefly before they rekindled their gaze.

"This test isn't as accurate as it would've been had it been run in the hospital, but it is thorough." Sakura beamed, tucking a greasy strand of pink hair behind her ear. "These results are meant to establish whether a soldier is stable enough to resume fighting after great traumas such as when Hinata lost Neji. Her estrogen is low here, her noradrenaline is over the roof, which is all normal considering it was wartime and she was in extreme distress. But her brain chemistry is flawless, plus her adrenaline, cortisol, norepinephrine are all high when I tested her, which means she was nervous and under stress, possibly afraid for some reason." Sakura paused. "This mutation of hers first manifested after Neji's death, that's what we all know. She won't tell me how, but comparing it to the Mangekyo, it only makes sense. Yet, there was no relevant imbalance in her physically. Which means, she was in no way unstable or hormonal."

Naruto buried his face in his hands. "To think that I actually had any hopes for this." He faced her. "Sakura, this thing took years to develop. She lived a normal life until it bloomed into what it is today."

The pink haired ninja shook her head, straightening the front of her lab coat. Naruto's place smelled like ramen and deodorant. She scoffed. "She came to see me last night. Hinata needed Sasuke's picture." Sakura stated, for starters. Just as Naruto was opening his mouth to speak, she cut him off. "You don't need to apologize. I understand your decision, but I know about Team 8's legendary meditation, as they call it. In fact I tried getting them to do a medical trial and let me research it, but they won't do it for the sake of 'authenticity'. Frankly, I know it's because Hinata doesn't want her eyes to be studied. I respect that. But I don't think it's safe."

Naruto frowned. "They've caused her a lot of pain, Sakura."

The girl chuckled. "I like your girlfriend, I hope you haven't forgotten the fact that I went through hell and back just to get the two of you together, but as far as pain goes, I'm more curious about what those thirteen men from two years ago felt when she killed him subconsciously. There was nothing physically wrong with them, Naruto, they were healthy, and Hinata only knows basic genjutsu. She's no Uchiha Itachi!"

"What are you trying to say?!" He yelled.

"I'm trying to say that I guilt-tripped her into a round of the same, basic tests. Just blood work and brain chemistry, and let me tell you, it was as flawless as it was five years ago after the mutation started. She's not hormonal and there's nothing wrong with her head. She's also not seeing Ino. That bitch won't tell me anything even though I'm supposed to be her best friend. Conclusively, Hinata is either faking all of this or is going nuts. If she is the former, then she should've been prescribed drug therapy months or years ago. Meds would've helped her by now, so what does that leave us with? Regardless, she wouldn't need to hide those things. But she hides everything! And what do we know? She's not talking to you, she's ignoring her family, she's constantly on missions chasing or killing for good money and she's persistently refusing all offers to have her Byakugan examined by people beyond Kakashi's dōjutsu unit. And Karachi is Kakashi's dōjutsu unit! You're like a brother to me, but she is bad news, Naruto!"

"Get the fuck out, Sakura." At the last notion, Naruto slammed his fists against the table, making a crack in the sturdy wood and spilling the ramen on the floor. Sakura stared in shock as his eyes seemed to be clouded with rage.

"N-Naruto," she lowered her voice in an attempt to soothe him.

"Get the fuck out!" He screamed, finally shattering the table with his bandaged hand. Sakura's eyes widened at the pool of tears at the corners of his eyes. She started to approach him.

"Naruto, I'm sorry, I-" He smacked her hand away as it reached out to touch his red face. She drew her fingers to her chest as they throbbed. Sakura was disgusted.

"I love you more than you will ever know, but get the fuck out of my house, Sakura. You've crossed the line."

* * *

On the opposite side of the world, a lone hooded figure stood in the rain, sheltered by a dripping wet leather hood of his traveling attire. The sturdy cloak and muddy boots at his feet had seen four years of dramatic variance of both weather and surroundings. The twenty-two year old Uchiha Sasuke knew the ninja world like the back of his hand, and frankly he wasn't sure just how much he appreciated what he was seeing.

He stood tall at the sharp edge of a cliff which tilted over a valley he had ventured through and about dozens of times before. Only the moonlight was present to light his way, so emitting delicate currents of electricity through his hand and into his sword, he raised it, pointing its end towards the clouds. Through the rain, his Chidori suddenly sprung into the pitch black sky. Sasuke sheathed Kusanagi and waited for a couple of tense seconds before an earth-shattering bolt of lightning broke from the heavens. White light appeared for a split second, illuminating the valley.

Sasuke frowned.

Akira Suizen had been there.

Inside of the canion used to be the habitat of another stray pack of Orochimaru's failed experiments - mutants who were human in only name and nothing else. They aged slowly, but were ancient, having been created back when Orochimaru was still an amateur scientist who used the distant north villages of the Sound as his playground. Their skin emitted radiation that was only able to damage living organisms if they remained near it too long. Unfortunately, the wildlife around their territories suffered for it and so did humans inhabiting the central and southern region of the land.

These armies answered to no man and no beast and were all but aware of their actions. Another notable thing was that they were compulsively violent and should a human stray into their territory, they would kill them and feast on their flesh. Sasuke wasn't unhappy that somebody had already taken the liberty of doing those civilians a favor and destroying their colonies once and for all, but something just didn't feel right when his eyes fell on the deep blue surface of the transparent stone freezing by far the largest concentration spot of these animalistic creatures and stretching for miles.

It was an incomprehensibly lengthy area, having served as a river basin, that was enveloped in the smooth crystalline, which reflected brief lighting like a body of water would.

Blinking in the dark, Sasuke noticed it almost looked as if a city had been drowned beneath there. With inhuman precision and speed, Sasuke dashed off the edge of the cliff, landing a good distance away from his initial spot, boots colliding with the slippery material with a silent thud. Squatting down, the last Uchiha glided his fingers down the sleek surface. In a blink, his Sharingan activated and through the dimly filtered world of his superior eye, the stone appeared to be glowing. The unsettling feeling suddenly made sense. It was entirely chakra infused.

Dispelling it, Sasuke stood up. Something was off.

Gathering electricity and averting Kusanagi to glare up at the heavens, another bolt of lightning broke, lighting up the area. What he saw made his muscles tense.

 _e_

A single word deftly engraved into the crystal. Little of his intruder's wishes remained free for interpretation.

Sasuke snorted before his face twisted into a distasteful snarl. He did not like being watched and even less not realizing it as it happened. With a quick swing of his only arm, the hooded male charged his sword and with incredible force, penetrated the sturdy mass. Large pieces of the surface broke away dozens of feet in front of him, although they were too tall up from the village to near the remains of its inhabitants and their clumsy wooden tents. Sasuke had his own response. Halting his dig, the Uchiha sheathed Kusanagi, content with the inflicted damage. His goal was not to rescue anybody below. Even if someone else managed to break the woman's creation down to its core, all captive bodies would be shattered into pieces as they had already become one with the matter.

This was not the first mutant camp the ninja had raided on their unintentionally simultaneous journey to the North.

"What is it that you want from me, Uchiha Sasuke?" A feminine voice broke through the rainstorm, causing a smirk to stretch over the man's rugged features. He had not planned on countering her, but she was obviously more easily agitated than he had expected.

Turning around, Sasuke beheld her. "It's good to finally meet you… Akira Suizen."

* * *

A voluptuous woman clad in a purple kimono which cascaded down her plump belly stormed through the Konoha gates. Her ponytails were impeccably spiky along the back of her head and her companions struggled to catch up to her. The gatekeepers didn't bother with questioning her, for Temari was no stranger to the Leaf and its citizens.

"My Lady, please, you shouldn't rush!" A man dressed in Suna's standard mission gear pointlessly castigated, followed by a few who carried the small yet elaborate wooden frame in which their princess had been forced to spend most of her journey in. She didn't pay them any heed as she penetrated the streets of Konoha, eventually losing them in the crowd. In minutes she had elbowed her way into the Hokage tower.

In ready and hurried steps, Temari climbed up the numerous flights of stairs before finally countering a large door painted in yellow and gold before gushing past the Hokage's guards and pushing the knob, revealing the office of one Uzumaki Naruto.

"Where is he?" She demanded to know, looking the seated blond man into the eye. He sighed, waving off the guards who were peeking inside with questioning looks.

"Welcome, Temari." He said with a forceful smile.

"I don't have time for your bullshit, Naruto. Where is my husband?" The foreigner rephrased, slamming a fist against his desk, causing some paperwork to stir. Said man licked his lips. Stress. He was going to burst at any minute.

"Not that you have any lawful right to know this, but officer Nara Shikamaru is still going through a thorough investigation regarding his mission in the ANBU headquarters." He heaved, leaning back in his seat. A white and red robe framed his torso, but neither that nor the fire emblem on the hat he had on a nearby hangar intimidated the woman.

"I bear a seal of the Kazekage's confidence, I have every right to know what is happening to the father of my child." She growled, pointing a finger at her brother's friend. Naruto frowned deeply.

"You have no such thing as my seal of confidence and Shikamaru is a Konoha nin. Learn your place! You can't just barge in here and expect this nation's leader to obey your orders and reveal classified information. The situations Yamato disclosed was supposed to be for Gaara only. He obviously though you responsible enough to handle such intel, but I guess he was wrong."

Temari blinked, fuming with rage. Her breathing was heavy and green eyes clouded. "When will you release him..? It's been over a week and you're still interrogating him." She uttered, lips thinning.

Naruto observed and some of his own tension evaporated. "I'm sorry." He started weakly, avoiding her gaze. "I understand that you are rightfully worried. He should be finished soon enough."

The blonde closed her eyes and could almost hear her heartbeat drumming in her ears. She brought a hand to her chest.

Naruto shifted in his chair. "Take a seat. I will send word for an approximate confirmation." Gulping uncomfortably, Temari walked a step away from his desk and collapsed into the crimson, cushioned sofa in front of him. Naruto felt guilty for her sudden loss of spite. It was horribly out of character for his friend's lover to be this silent.

"..I'm sure you've already been told the details, but the mission was a general success and Shikamaru was not injured at any point. It's just that he took a while gathering evidence and retrieving without appearing suspicious. Formally, our peace treaties are still intact and there could've been a colossal damage had the Mizukage found out that we sent a spy to penetrate her ranks." Naruto murmured awkwardly as he scribbled the last of words on his scroll. Summoning a small toad, he handed it the message and it disappeared. Temari watched the interaction passively before starting.

"Do you know why this person killed Yūgao?" She asked, weary of her tone of voice. Temari didn't doubt that the Hokage's office was sealed and soundproof to begin with, but she still didn't know what to make of the situation. In all of her worry over Shikamaru she paid his mission little heed. Now, at least knowing that she was in his physical proximity, she could cool down a little bit.

Naruto thought for a moment. "No." He answered simply.

She blinked, eyes aimlessly glued to some piles on his desk. "Yamato mentioned something about putting national security at risk. Since she killed Yūgao, now she is a criminal. The Mist could just put her in the bingo book and admit it. Why are they protecting her?"

Naruto sighed. Normally he would've lashed out again and defend sensitive information, but he didn't have the heart to do so. He was aware of the way he had been acting for the past year. "There are… few things we know about Akira Suizen." Naruto started, an expression of surrender tainting the dominant facade he'd built. "None of those make us understand why Kiri and Iwa jeopardise the alliance for her sake, and they have, according to several explicit conditions the contract contained." He started, words coated with confusion prominently.

"For one, Orochimaru's guinea pigs aren't uncommon nowadays. People like Yamato, Sasuke and Anko are living normal lives all around the world, but the law states that should another victim of his experiments surface, successful or not, it ought to be reported. That's the first promise those two broke. Second of all, she was found in the Land of Earth. Whether Iwa deported her to Kiri before or after the Alliance's formation, it doesn't matter. Either way, they broke the law by not alerting the other nations of their exchange which could've been a form of a treaty. That could mean that their conflict was forged. If this turns out to be 100% true, it could mean that the peace is flawed and built on a lie that could potentially mean that it is invalid. They traded an incredibly powerful weapon, Hatake Kakashi has testified."

Temari let the information sink in and she gulped. Her hands circled her bump protectively. "What does Kakashi have to do with her?"

Before Naruto could utter a single word, a sudden bang interrupted his attempt. "Enter." He called, voice dripping with annoyance. The door swung open and a jonin of some sort entered the room, panting loudly.

"Lord Hokage… We have news for you!" He exclaimed, weakly gathering his breath to speak. He gripped his knees, apparently exhausted. "Hyuuga… Hinata has…" He breathed and Naruto stiffened, jumping out of his seat. His whole expression changed. Temari found it incredible. She turned to glance over her shoulder at the man who failed to collect himself.

"What about Hyuuga Hinata?!" He demanded, short hair wildly sticking at sharp angles after he ran his bandaged hand through it. Suddenly, another figure emerged.

"Kiba." Naruto's eyes widened and he gazed at the tall man inquisitively, still high up on his feet. The Inuzuka male pushed the jonin out of the office murmuring curses of disapproval before turning back to the two blonds. Clad in leather from head to toe, Kiba looked like an angry bundle of insatiable testosterone with a slightly shortened breath. Handsome nevertheless.

"I was forcibly stirred from hibernation by the ANBU while Shino is still at it. Hinata's woken up." His eyes intently bore into Naruto's demanding azure orbs. "Something went wrong."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note** : At the end of the chapter, I will be addressing some of your questions and reviews.

NOTE: This chapter has been edited (30. December 2017)

* * *

 _ **Chapter 2**_

* * *

When he arrived at the the headquarters of Kakashi's mysterious department, he stormed through the hallways whilst following the weak life force Hyuuga Hinata emitted. It was enough for him to ignore whomever he brushed shoulders with. His predecessor's establishment was riddled with laboratories and closed rooms with odd contents Naruto had never paid any heed to. He had only agreed to fund it because of the fact that it was meant to help keep Hinata's weakness under control.

Finding himself inside of a narrow hallway and taking a sharp turn, the blond ran down a steep and dark flight of stairs and was faced with an open door. Backs of people were turned to him and he mindlessly elbowed his way into the room, Kage robe fluttering as he did so. It was a round and wide setting, very much dim and only faint strands of candlelight danced across the domed ceiling. People were concentrated only about the entrance and the rest of the place was empty excluding the pair in the middle. Seal markings stretched around them and crawled up the tall walls.

Inside, he walked towards the middle and stood breathless beholding the bare form of his lover laid in a metal bath filled to the top with ice.

"Shit." He uttered.

Her lips were pale and her form was shaking in the cold. She was staring up at Kakashi who was towering her from behind, elbows resting on the sides of her bath. His hands were at her shoulders, as if silently keeping her still while she muttered illegible sounds and words pleadingly. The ends of Kakashi's unruly hair were tickling her forehead and on her face was an expression of utter bewilderment and desperation.

But not even that was the worst of it. Around her eyes, up her forehead, from her eyes and down her cheeks, neck, shoulders, collarbones, all the way down her arms and the valley of her breasts traveled prominent blue markings which he could see beneath the foggy substance covered with ice, as some had melted. He briefly wondered how long it had been ever since the tub was filled with the solid cubes only – how long had she been suffering this way, and he seething in his office.

Naruto turned around. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He growled. "Get out!" He then screamed until everybody had stumbled out and closed the door of the dimly lit room behind them. At the sound of his voice, Hinata let out a cry, eyes still not darting to the side to glance at him. Naruto's heartbeat quickened as he ran and collapsed at her side, leaning over while weak on his knees. The blue markings created abstract shapes down one half of her body and Naruto wondered whether he was imagining things once he could've sworn that the blue edged up, losing less than an inch around her thighs. At that moment, Hinata's murmurs were disrupted by another scream. Blue rimmed eyes widened as she did so, and Naruto felt his insides clenching in pain, almost as if his empathy was mirroring her agony. Moisture glossed over the surface of his eyes, tears threatening to fall.

"Can you tell me what the fuck is going on?!" Naruto's voice broke as he looked up as his predecessor's eyes pleadingly. The grey haired man didn't spare him a glance. He was focused on the girl wriggling in the ice batch, uttering illegible thoughts.

"Something disrupted the meditation process. She's only half conscious and presumably in a… trance." Kakashi hastily replied hoping to avoid conflict with the hot blooded male.

Naruto frowned. "What trance? What is she saying then?" He questioned persistently.

"The ice is meant to numb her nerves so that the seal can subtract. We'll find out the reason when she wakes up. This has happened before, so she's probably… dreaming." Kakashi let go of her shoulders and reached to lace his fingers with her seeking ones which strayed up the sides of the metal bath. She tightly gripped onto them, releasing another pained scream, before panting and resuming her monologue. The backs of her palms were adorned by blue shapes.

"Hinata!" Naruto called. "Hinata, can you hear me?" He pleaded.

Kakashi frowned. "She can't." He hated having to clarify, but the blond man was too driven by his emotions to think clearly and reason logically.

Naruto bit his lip. "Do you know when she'll wake up?" He questioned with uncertainty, fearing that he'd dread the answer.

Kakashi's hold on the girl's hands tightened. "When her Byakugan's influence subsides…" He stated the obvious and Naruto knew not to ponder further. Neither had any idea as to when its influence would whither.

"You…" The Hokage gulped, hands clenching his knees as tried to contain his surplus of anxiety. "You said this has happened before." Naruto couldn't bear watching her like this.

"It has." Kakashi responded before turning towards the door. "Bring me more ice!" He yelled in its direction before turning back to monitor the wriggling girl.

Naruto heaved. "Why do I only learn of these episodes… now?" His voice was shaking, and he suddenly sounded like that kid he used to teach ten years ago. Kakashi's dark eyes bore into the empty lilac ones staring into nothingness from beneath him, and he couldn't help but recall that she did tend to bring out that hopeful blowhard he used to be, in some ways. His chest tightened.

"Naruto, there are things about Hinata's eyes that you don't know." The blonde's attention snapped to the silver haired male whose gaze was on the raven haired beauty panting in the tub.

"I know. Are you going to tell me what those are?" He uttered through his teeth. It was only the gratitude he felt towards his teacher that kept him from sending him to Ibiki and forcing the information out of him, as well as his respect for Hinata. He really couldn't afford arguing with her. Naruto was determined not to give her any reason to leave him in spite of her will, but now seeing her so weak and trembling from causes he couldn't understand, crushed him.

"No." Kakashi denied firmly and Naruto faltered. "But I ask of you to value her decisions and focus on getting her better rather than preserving this fantasy you have." His onyx orbs stared into his own, grip on Hinata's hands tightening as she groaned. "Things will never return to the way they used to be. Hinata didn't want this to happen to her, but it did. What she needs isn't a partner, it's help and focus. Since she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life this way, she is struggling to gain control over this Byakugan. You're a reminder of how things could have been had everything stayed the same, and with these eyes, she sees things we never will. Trust her judgement and don't be selfish. She's already falling apart." Kakashi said, voice growing colder by the second. "That is all I wanted to tell you. Now, leave."

* * *

Iridiscent eyes fluttered open. Her vision was coated with pale lighting blended unevenly. She traced the blurry white outline of a foreign body swaying over the brightest source of light and after a few curious blinks; she recognized a curtain stirred by a light breeze. It sent chills up her spine as the coolness brushed against the bare skin of her hip. Hinata shivered and curled her body inwards. Heaving tiredly, she propped herself up to sit in the king sized bed.

The first thing she saw upon doing so was her own reflection in a mirror hanging from the wall opposite of her. Suddenly, she became aware of both the unfamiliar setting and her odd appearance. She instinctively pulled a white sheet over her chest and watched her figure slightly shift while breathing steadily.

'What..?' She though in confusion, fingers straying to brush the ruffled strands which parted awkwardly and revealed patches of her forehead while barely reaching to her eyebrows which were furrowed ponderously. The fringe, she had started growing out two years prior, once she realized it was unpleasant to have with the ANBU mask on. But there it was, framing her face nostalgically. She had almost forgotten how much she used to love that cut. Nevertheless, practicality came first, and while chopping off her hair had not been an option, growing her bangs out was the second best.

The surprise was sinking in, so immediately alert that something was going on, she glanced to the corner of the room, where a few large boxes were piled together, being the sole exception to the walls' and bed's white monotone.

She looked different, she felt different. Her body was softer than usual and skin free of any wounds or cuts.

And she had a silver ring; glistening in the morning sun and cool against the skin of her finger.

Hinata bit her lip. Standing up, she released the sheet and decided to look at herself in the mirror. Awkwardly turning from side to side and searching the paleness of her skin for any sort of scars or bruises, Hinata concluded she had none. Debating on what to do with the foreign ring on her hand, she sighed and searched the room's interior for clothes. As it was obviously empty, she glanced at the white door which was closed shut. She could feel somebody's presence outside, but her perception seemed to have weakened. Had she been drugged? Hinata hastily, yet silently pushed the sliding door of a plain closet open.

Her heart skipped a beat and her breathing halted for a moment.

It was her clothes - her old clothes, her baggy clothes, her chunin clothes. On the top shelf, there was a dusty jonin vest. Her chest kept progressively tightening as she hesitantly reached out to clutch onto a piece of pale lilac cloth and pulling it from its hanger. She used the first thing she could find to cover herself. The purple tunic was a handful of sizes too large for her and both the sleeves and the thing itself were too long. She would have assumed that she'd travelled back in time, but Hinata was quite sure that the setting itself was too unfamiliar.

She'd been about to close the closet doors shut, when a flash of orange caught her eye. She opened them once again. Her head was buzzing as she peeked into the drawer in question and upon seeing a familiar, disheveled piece of clothing. Hinata hadn't bothered with taking it out. After a few seconds, she shut it. Leaning against the wooden contraption, she tried to collect her thoughts and tame her raging heartbeat. There was pressure behind her eyes. She just didn't know what to think.

So, she didn't.

Walking over to the door, she grabbed the knob. Suppressing her hesitation, she pushed it open and a familiar scent overwhelmed her senses. She moved slowly, finding a wooden flight of stairs which she descended from. Tears threatened to spill, as her eyes widened.

The living room was washed in sunlight and the giddy man took a minute to notice her presence. Somehow, she registered that a song was being hummed someplace near which she instinctively began walking towards. "Na...Naruto..." Her voice broke as she turned the corner and faced the man in the sleek kitchen who turned around to face her.

"Good morning, beautiful!" He grinned widely. She faltered. Hinata had not seen that carefree smile in... Years. Oh yes, she was suddenly reminded of the very thing she'd hurt him to protect.

What was this reality?

His hair was longer and disheveled eyes bright and gazing at her with affection of such intensity it made her knees buckle. While trying to protect Uzumaki Naruto whom people knew and loved, she had purged him of his joy.

"Yes..." She whispered. Oblivious of her train of thoughts, he laughed and turned around to stir noodles cooking on the stove.

"I wanted to bring you breakfast in bed before Boruto woke up, but you're already here so... Done!" He exclaimed, shutting the stove down.

'Boruto..?' She couldn't bring herself to ask any questions.

She glanced about. It was a house, judging by the view from the distant windows in the living room, and a new one at that. It made sense that it looked to vacant. Anyhow, it didn't explain what she was doing there, although it was the last thing on her mind.

Then, he turned around. Her visage hadn't changed. She was too stunned to move or say anything as he strolled towards her. He was clad in a white tee and black pants. His grin was devious, and his proximity burned her with every step he took. She felt like she was seventeen again. This was a different man - not a day younger or older than her lover, but happier.

"What's wrong?" He questioned, approaching and wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. All that Hinata could do was cling to him, in hopes of preventing her legs from giving out.

Shock, overwhelming confusion and guilt, love and pain, all of those combined made it difficult to speak, so she just stayed silent. Her face was flushed and his scent tickled her senses, body pressed against hers, hearts beating together.

Naruto chuckled against her shoulder. "Don't tell me you're shy about last night..." She yelped as he spun her in a circle. "Naruto!" Hinata buried her face in the crook of his neck in embarrassment when he let her down.

"Naruto..." She uttered, red faced and still pulling herself together. "Where are-" Then a high pitched cry broke out from one of the rooms on the upper flood. Her body froze and her mind went blank.

"Sexy-time is over. Looks like Boruto has decided to make an appearance..." He leaned down to kiss her. "I'll get that." Their lips collided. He chuckled, foreheads pressed together, before dashing up the stairs.

Mutely, Hinata took a few moments to herself. The crying suddenly came to a halt and that is when she let her body move towards the source of the sound.

Standing by the entrance of a baby blue kids' room, she beheld Naruto, embracing a small child of no more than two years of age, affectionately. Hinata could only see a mop of blond hair on its head. When 'Boruto' looked up to meet her gaze, and she noticed his eyes were at least a dozen shades lighter than Naruto's, she panicked. His skin was pale and a soft shade of pink dusted his chubby cheeks.

Yes, now she understood who this child was, and who it belonged to. Boruto smiled at her, and her heart felt like it'd been torn to pieces. Naruto was embracing their son with a father's confidence. In his stance and visage, one could so clearly see how much he loved that child, and Hinata was his mother. It only made sense - but how did she get here? When he turned to her and the little boy stretched his arms out to her, she froze. So, she did the only thing she knew. "I'm going to... wash up."

She ran.

A dozen hours later, she was back in the very same bed, as naked as the day she was born, while gazing at the sleeping blond, inches away from her. Her breath tickled the strands of messy hair brushing over his forehead and only when she had him calm and out of it like this, could she collect her thoughts.

'My name is Uzumaki Hinata.'

His lips were parted and she stared at them moving slightly as he breathed.

'I am 22 years old.'

His spotless arms were draped and tucked around her waist.

'I have retired from being a ninja after the War.'

She blinked.

'I own a bakery down the street.'

Her eyes burned.

'I have an average Byakugan with a decent range, but I've grown rusty ever since my teenage years.'

The warmth of his body contrasted the coldness of hers.

'I am married to Uzumaki Naruto.'

The woman's body stiffed and nausea swept over her. Her breath hitched.

'I am the mother of Uzumaki Boruto.'

The boy was sound asleep in the room next to theirs.

'I am also in the first trimester of my second pregnancy.'

She traced the flatness of her stomach with her fingertips.

'I am happily married, and I love my children. I have no relationship with Hatake Kakashi or Yamanaka Ino. Haruno Sakura is married to Uchiha Sasuke and they have a daughter who is Boruto's age. Naruto wants to name our second child Minato if it's a boy and Himawari if it's a girl. The Alliance is as strong as ever. There is peace.'

She licked her lips.

'I have a perfect life... but it is not mine to live.'

During that very day, Naruto had mentioned what a pity it was that Boruto had not inherited her Byakugan, and it all just clicked. She remembered that she had gone into meditation.

Shifting upwards to kiss her husband on the forehead and suppressing a pool of tears threatening to spill, Hinata crawled out of his hold and rose to her feet. She had no idea where to run, or what to do, but she knew she couldn't stay where she was, if only for the sake of her own sanity. Just as she had pulled over a yukata, a knock came from the door. Which door? She had no idea. Hinata's eyebrows slightly furrowed in confusion. Naruto was a heavy sleeper, she remembered, glancing at him sideways. Hinata quickly got dressed. She crept out of the room, leaving the door somewhat agape. Deftly, she patted down the wooden staircase and reached the entrance door.

After another knock came, she hesitantly opened the door only to find absolute darkness beyond it. She stepped back, shutting it. Hinata warily glanced around, heart beating wildly, before reopening it. A pair of mismatched eyes were the only things visible in the dark - one red and black, and the other violet with cryptic spirals adorning it.

She stood, and waited until a black hand reached out to her. Stumbling backwards, she yelped at its proximity.

"I have something that you want." A voice echoed in her ears and Hinata knew that some reality had to be entertained. Straightening her posture, the woman took short, yet steady steps towards the darkness beyond the strange house's doorframe.

"This is where I want to be." She whispered.

The eyes blinked. "This isn't real and it will never be." It rang again.

Her arm darted forward, hovering above it. Abruptly, the hand reappeared and grabbed her by the wrist. Hinata whimpered before she was fully and smoothly pulled into the dark.

* * *

Shikamaru Nara was released from the ANBU's headquarters after a week-long interrogation; he had hoped to catch a glimpse of sunlight or a cloud in the sky, although the moon was full above the horizon. It followed him back home. He had already decided to depart from Konoha at as early as daybreak, and marveled the fresh air as it streamed through his nostrils. It carried away the aroma of candle wax and rusty metal which he'd been surrounded by for the past seven days during which he'd only been allowed to take occasional naps on an uncomfortable sofa in the lobby. He missed his bed, and moreover, he missed his lover whom he had not seen in months. The last time they had embraced was the night before the beginning of his journey. They had recently found out that she was one month into her pregnancy, although Shikamaru knew that at this point of time, her belly must've rounded considerably.

Tall street lights illuminated his way towards the Nara compound. It was only halfway through his silent journey that he noticed a presence. Daringly, he turned around. The alley was empty, but deceptively so. Shikamaru blinked. "Did you forget anything?" Silence. He frowned. The tired man's stance grew slightly stiffer.

"Who are you?" He demanded passively.

"Calm down." A voice came from behind him and Shikamaru failed to falter. An irritated sigh escaped his lips, suddenly feeling up for a smoke.

"Yamato..." He turned around; facing the said man whose ANBU mask was hanging off his waist. The friendly smile gracing his plain features was eerie in its own way.

"Long time no see, Shikamaru..." He nodded. The Nara chuckled, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it whilst strolling up a pair of stairs leading to the playground.

As Yamato followed, Shikamaru made a sarcastic inquiry. "It can't be that, now that you've finally realized that you're not getting into my wife's pants, you suddenly plan on apologizing, could it?" He said as the ANBU stared at his back. Leisurely, he sat down on a swing and Yamato made himself comfortable on the opposite bench.

"I know the princess loves you too much to consider, so I can't say I ever had my hopes up." He smiled. "Although, she has certainly proven wrong the general belief that women's beauty is drained while baring a female child." At the statement, Shikamaru faltered as he couldn't make himself draw another smoke.

His eyes noticeably widened. "It's a girl..?"

Yamato marvelled the sudden change of attitude. He had truly never seen Shikamaru looking as indulged, and he doubted anyone other than Temari had. The ex-Root member was oddly flattered. "Yes, it is a girl."

Shikamaru exhaled as if he'd been containing emotions which were undoubtedly overwhelming him. Yamato continued. "I was surprised by the notion, as I had heard that Nara men rarely produce female offspring, but I suppose that you will be a proud father of a little girl." He chuckled sheepishly.

His companion suddenly tilted his head upwards and blinked a few times. The yellow beam of the sole working streetlight briefly reflected a glow on the surface of his eyes before he averted his gaze back to Yamato. Shikamaru's lips then flexed as if he were tightening them, but the slight edge upwards and the way he licked them and massaged his jaw were transparently showing his excitement mixed with anxiety.

"I..." He started, clearing his throat. Nara Shikamaru was not going to cry in front of a stranger, especially not one who wanted to bang his wife - no, he would wait a few days and then bawl to his heart's content in the arms of the woman he loved. "I... I get the feeling that that isn't the only thing you wanted to tell me..."

Once he breathed those words out, Yamato shifted, nodding in agreement. "I am glad to have been able to... share this touching moment with you, but no, this is not the only reason why I have sought you."

Shikamaru scratched his nose. "It's urgent." He stated, not even trying to phrase it as a question. It was insane that he was being found at this hour, not to mention the fact that Yamato could have easily entered the ANBU base and had this conversation then. He wanted him alone and ASAP and Shikamaru did not like that in the slightest. He did not want anyone or anything interrupting his long awaited reunion with Temari.

Yamato stirred some rocks beneath his feet. "I have visited Suna and delivered your letter as well as the mission report." He then faced the Nara who seemed to have collected himself. "The Kazekage and his confidant know everything and their best geologists are working on identifying this material that Akira Suizen uses." Shikamaru sighed.

"Assuming she was deported to Kiri as a result of some secret alliance, she could've taken just about anybody's guidance. The Mist is full of exceptional shinobi, the Mizukage herself taking her under her wing and making Akira Suizen her first apprentice should have some purpose. Crystal Style is rare, but not startlingly so. The thing that separates Mei Terumi from other ninja is..."

"...that she has a ridiculous number of bloodline limits." Yamato stiffened upon realization. He really had not taken it into consideration and Kakashi, who had allegedly fought her in the past, was too busy with his Byakugan kid at the time to talk. Shikamaru nodded, slightly rocking back and forth in the swing, although his feet remained flat on the ground. "This particular stone she used to kill our ambassador with could be one of a few, or one of a dozen kinds for all we know. She's man-made, a concoction of who-knows-what."

Yamato gulped. "We also have some alarming news regarding Hyuuga Hinata." Shikamaru quirked his brow. He had never been particularly close with the girl, but after Kakashi had begun training her, they started getting along professionally. "The Hokage had assigned Team 8 to track down Uchiha Sasuke. Mysteriously, a couple of days after they had started hibernating, the Hyuuga had woken up before completing the ritual. Her Byakugan got out of control and had it not been for Kakashi, it would've taken a toll on her mindless body. She was in a coma for a while."

Shikamaru frowned. "I assume she is okay..?" He suggested, hoping for a lack of denial.

Yamato nodded. "That is correct. Today, she has been visited by Kakashi, I hear she is well." He informed, demurely.

Shikamaru heaved. "The copycat is a dedicated teacher." He acknowledged, respectfully. He'd been Kakashi's assistant during his reign as Hokage.

Yamato smiled. "I hear you stumbled across one of his kittens then?"

The Nara snickered at the attempted joke. "I've spent a week describing every second of the mission from my departure to my arrival. I'm sure the ANBU will have a few dozen pages on our every conversation."

The wood user rolled his shoulders. "Unfortunately, those reports are only going to reach office tomorrow around noon, once they are verified, corrected and sealed." He paused. "…and the ANBU has given you yet another mission. It starts in the morning, so you won't be here when they are made available for those with the Seal, of course." Yamato ended and Shikamaru then threw his cigarette onto the ground with more contempt than he had planned, but his frown stayed the same as he angrily stomped over the thing with the bottom of his shoe.

"Don't worry!" Yamato insisted, earning a belittling glance from the Nara male. "You ought to go to Suna either way." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, slightly less pissed than he had originally been. "Plus, you might have a surprise waiting at home."

Later, once he neared the Nara residence, he immediately felt a familiar presence inside. Normally, he would've ran, sprinted into her proximity, but Shikamaru knew that she was asleep, and somehow he felt reassured that she wouldn't go anywhere.

He entered the house and strolled up the stairs. Through the dark, he slipped into their bedroom where he saw the back of her figure, laid on the bed. He approached her, wistfully. His body was longing to hold her again. Shikamaru took his shirt off and slid inside the warm mattress.

"I'm home…" The Nara whispered as he circled his strong arms around the rounded stomach of his wife and burying his face in the crook of her neck. Her body suddenly shook as if she were whimpering and he held her tighter.

"Welcome back…" She uttered, as he fingers laced through his own.

* * *

 _Kakashi's feet were flat on the still water's surface, posture unwavering and both mismatched eyes fixed onto the figure standing at a safe distance in front of him. The Sharingan only made him even more alert of her presence._

 _His breathing was heavy and appeared to be deceptively calm. There was only an outline of land far behind her. The sea was wide and infinite on most sides and the girl's heartbeat quickened. Kakashi knew it all - she was terrified of open spaces. There was nowhere to run to, and all she could do was defend herself._

 _Hence, he stepped forward and her bright eyes widened, resembling the very sea they stood upon which reflected the reds, blues and purples of the sunset like a spotless mirror. The slightest wind breezed through the dishwater blonde silk of her hair and Kakashi just stayed still. He could not bear to move any closer, for he knew that the moment he got too near, she would strike._

He blinked at the bleakness of the ceiling above him. Kakashi was seated in one of the few comfortably private suites the hospitals had to offer. He was alone. After glancing at the vacant seat in front of him, the door creaked open, slowly. He stared as the figure of Hyuuga Hinata emerged narrowly. The nurse which had presumably escorted her to their meeting place had closed it politely. She turned to face him.

"You look good." He said, hiding his relief deftly.

Hinata forced a smile. "I look... better." She was clad in a plain yet elegant grey hospital gown. It was definitely not the standard attire, but she was an important person in many ways and received all sorts of special treatment. She had spilled sweat and blood for that recognition. Her eyes were smiling at him while appearing to be somewhat empty and drained as she sat down, in one hand dragging a metal pole supporting the IV fluids dripping into her vein from the back of her palm.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. Hinata tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear, exposing a portion of a slender neck. Kakashi frowned slightly. She was paler than usual.

"I'm okay..." She hummed, crossing her legs beneath the table. "I'm still a little weak, but they're nourishing me excessively." She motioned towards the IV bag. "You took care of me well. I told you that you don't have to do that..." She uttered, remembering the nurses telling her that she had been hooked on a similar one during her meditation.

Kakashi shook his head. "You're not an imposter, Hinata. It doesn't tire me in the slightest." He reassured. The reasons why Kakashi insisted that the girl meditated in his home were multiple, but the primary purpose was to prevent accidents like the previous one from happening and getting out of hand as it would've had she been alone and isolated, with no one to check up on her.

Hinata sighed. "It's been a few days... I've started walking again and the numbness faded after they warmed me up. I should be good to go by tomorrow." She informed him habitually. "You did a great job."

She praised to which Kakashi scoffed. "I'd rather not have to do that ever again. I don't like seeing anyone suffer." Hinata softened in spite of her guilt. She didn't know why he did the things he did, but in the end she was grateful and too selfish to refuse him. Had it not been for her mentor, she would have gone mad ages ago. Hinata knew he loved her like he did all of his past pupils – like he would his children.

"I'm sorry..." She said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, but it lightly echoed the room which was empty aside from the table and two comfortable chairs on opposite sides.

"Don't apologize." He murmured. "I might've made a mistake." He confessed, meeting her gaze.

Iridescent eyes widened in confusion. Kakashi's lips thinned underneath his mask as he broke the ice. "I called Naruto while you were in shock." He could hear her breath quicken and see the anxiety which reflected on her visage. Had she been anyone else, they would've lashed out, but Hinata never lashed out. She waited for the entire truth to surface - that is what he had taught her.

He gulped. "I called him and we had a conversation. I told him what you should have long ago." Kakashi said sternly, although there was empathy woven through his monotone.

A layer of tears enveloped the surface of the girl's eyes, although none spilled. Kakashi continued, searching her face for everything and anything. "Whatever happens between you two from this point forward is a matter of choice. You grew distant from him because you didn't want to hurt him - because you wanted him to have everything you wouldn't give him before he died for your sake. I gave you a lot of time and this ridiculous dynamic you two had was harmful for everybody." Kakashi could barely look at her. She looked so brittle it was almost as if she could've been shaken by the smallest gust of wind, and his words were heartbreaking. "You have more self-control than Naruto, but I respected the fact that in love all people's judgement wavers. You were rational to a certain point, but now I decided to be rational for you." He finished.

After moments of a deafening silence, Hinata let out a shaky breath - or was it a laugh? She was not letting herself cry. Her translucent orbs bore into his own. "Thank you." Her lips were shaking and a flush spread across her cheeks. "Thank you..." She repeated, head tilting down as she stared at her pallid fingers laced together in her lap.

"I sincerely hope you two can work things out..." Kakashi straightened himself.

Hinata heaved, looking up at him. "He'll be just fine." Her lips curved upwards. He wondered whether she really tried to make those pained smiles convincing or was it just a habit. They made her look even more miserable.

"He will be." Kakashi muttered. There was another pregnant pause. Hinata rubbed her eyes with the back of her free palm. The suffocating truth was that they both doubted that she would ever get over the heartbreak.

"I saw him while I was under." She stated. Kakashi grew alert. He had been wanting to ask her about what she had experienced while in shock, but he didn't feel like pressuring her. Talking business was Hinata's way of distancing herself from issues, even though the two tended to overlap. "The first thing I remember was an illusion. I woke up in an unfamiliar place, I had bangs unlike now, I was married to Naruto and we lived in the same house." She paused, before looking at him in the eye. "We had a child, and I was pregnant. I owned a... bakery." Hinata chuckled. "I was not a ninja anymore, and I was entirely average by all means. Basically, I suspect that it was a projection of what my life could've been had my Byakugan not evolved. It lasted for a day, and then I was pulled out of it." She frowned, as if she remembered something.

"What is it?" He questioned her flinch. She inhaled. "...after that, I was pulled out." Hinata stated simply. She wasn't sure why she'd decided not to mention the last part, but she didn't think much of it. Of course she'd recognized those eyes - who wouldn't? But she would face them again sooner or later anyways. "Then, I started seeing flashes of images and… scenes I couldn't quite comprehend. Same as usual. I can't really point anything out unless you ask me." Kakashi nodded. It made sense. First the seal started spreading evenly and gradually and only after a certain point had it pushed her into shock. The things she saw during that phase were more or less blurry and quick.

"Hinata..." Kakashi started, hopeful, while leaning in. "...have you, by any chance, seen stone? Diamonds, crystals, anything really. Even water is fine, does anything come to mind?" He asked.

She blinked ponderously. "I saw people and... colors. It was blurry but, one time... I saw... Lightning." Hinata stated. "And a... sunken village." Her eyes squinted as she recollected her thoughts. "I saw a man... and a woman... She was beautiful." Hinata dozed off, obviously still drained.

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Can you show it to me?" He asked.

She stared at him inquisitively. "What do you mean by 'show you', you can't possibly think I could -"

He interrupted. "Yes, Hinata, I do. I know that you are more than capable of doing this." Kakashi insisted. He had trained her and had trust in her. "What happened wasn't your fault. Something must've set it off, and we will find out what and why, so please. You are safe here." Kakashi's words were empowering, but the girl couldn't help but feel hesitant about it.

"But… we've never tried it on humans before... and I can't guarantee those will be the same projections that I had." Hinata murmured, earning a dismissive shrug from Kakashi. He wasn't going to let this go. She meekly brought her free hand up and formed it into a sign.

"Byakugan…" Hinata uttered and blue markings began to form around her eyes and travel down her face. She flinched, halting them by her collar bones. Taming this power required a ridiculous amound of chakra control. Finally, she opened her eyes, and the moment Kakashi saw into her lilac orbs framed by sky blue, he was out.

 _"Why are you the person you are today?"_

 _"…because people I loved died for me." He said. "Why are you the person you are today?"_

 _"Because I died for people who hated me."_

 _All he could see was the sky and rain pouring onto his limp form which laid flat against the still body of water which appeared to be grey now. The sun had set and her visage was nowhere in sight, yet he could feel her. She kneeled behind his head, staring at the islands of translucent amethyst stone rising from the sea's surface. The sky was grey and clouded._

 _"Why not kill me now?" Kakashi breathed, completely immobile and tired of fighting. His left eye was throbbing and closed. It was cold and the wind easily penetrated the cut up and disheveled items of clothing hanging off their tired bodies._

 _"You don't want to hurt me." He heard her say through the rain._

 _"Is that your… ninja way?" Kakashi coughed before continuing. "It's quite noble."_

 _She remained silent for a moment. "I'm not a shinobi." She said._

 _"What are you then?" He asked._

 _"I'm a monster." She proclaimed and he chuckled._

 _"But… you're a woman." He sighed._

 _"Are you suggesting that women can't be monsters?" She questioned bleakly._

 _Neither seemed to be paying too much attention to the conversation, but their entire minds were wrapped around it._

* * *

"I don't like you." She said. "I don't like your vicinity or your curiosity." Her glossy turquoise eyes blinked at him passively. "Are you following me?" She asked after a moment of silence on both of their parts.

"No." Sasuke lied effortlessly, although he was slightly uncomfortable in the situation. He had never taken a girl out for drinks, and he hadn't imagined that his first cultivated attempt at speaking to a woman one-on-one would be this way. Thankfully, she considered the situation to be just as unromantic and inconvenient as he did.

"You're lying." She said, cup of tea in hand.

"No, I'm not." He denied, not remotely intimidated.

"Would you like to ask me out?"

"No."

"Would you like to fight me?"

"Maybe."

Suizen sighed. "And you seemed to be so happy to see me, I was hoping we'd be able to talk this through like normal people would." Her look turned slightly colder as she tucked a strand of dishwater blond hair behind her ear. His onyx orbs pierced her frame as she sipped onto her drink, as his was still untouched and presumably cold. She was truly pleasant to the eye, although her appearance was too delicate for anyone to begin to assume the power she held. That was quite a charming quality, but Sasuke regarded it as distasteful. Her pink lips were sealed shut as she passively glanced around the vacant tea house on the bottom floor of the inn they had stumbled upon.

She smirked, demurely.

"Fine." She said. "Let's make this easier." Her cup was placed on the table as she folded her arms over her chest. "Do you want to kill me or not?"

Sasuke chuckled, for the first time faltering his cold visage – not that he looked any less vicious this way. "No, I don't." He responded, leaning back in his seat.

"Nice." She nodded. "I don't feel like killing you either." She reasoned. The Uchiha would've snorted at her implication of ability to take him on, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself.

"Are you heading north from here?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yes." She said, drumming her fingers against the table. The signs were there – her posture wasn't stiff, she wasn't maintaining ridiculously long eye contact unlike Sasuke who continued to burn holes inside of her pretty little face. She was either genuinely unfazed by their encounter or very good at faking it. He was unimpressed, but obliged to have this conversation. "What do you seek in the Mountains' Graveyard?"

"Something that belongs to me." She said.

Sasuke heaved. "And what is it that you own that Obito Uchiha had had stored in his lab? You should know that Konoha's ANBU Black Ops have already purged that place. It is empty now." The Uchiha stated as he reluctantly inhaled the bitter scents of the herbs which mixed with the aroma of rain and dirt which was woven through both of their damp clothes.

The girl lightly beamed. "What I'm looking for… It's intimate. I don't want you in my hair about it." Suizen hummed. The Uchiha suppressed a frown of annoyance.

It was not a coincidence their paths had crossed. Sasuke's mission was to maintain peace from the shadows and that, he did. He was disguised as a ninja with a past, relieved of his crimes, traveling the world and searching for redemption. Frankly, Sasuke was not that apologetic. He made amends for his sins by serving the country he had wounded – he was Konoha's eyes and ears, and his job was to keep the later on the nations and monitor all suspicious activity.

Sasuke had sworn not to live another second of war in his lifetime. He took this peace very, very seriously.

He had had a special… friendship with the ambassador who had been murdered while he was in the Land of Grass. The Uchiha would've been lying had he said that he'd felt crushed by her sudden death, but it was a pity since she'd been a good shinobi. It was the circumstances of her demise that intrigued him. He made it to the Mist where he had found Nara Shikamaru who alerted him of the suspect's identity. Sasuke could only guess where she'd gone, but the Land of Earth seemed like the obvious choice. He found her eventually, and started following her. Unfortunately, he had also made a mistake by underestimating her. The girl had felt his presence once he edged too close to her and he had to make up his own excuse now. But that wasn't the problem. He had no intention of making friends with the devil. This was a business matter.

"Care to share why you crushed all of those unfortunate camps?" He questioned coolly.

Suizen sipped onto her drink and closed her eyes once the liquid filled her chest with pleasant warmth. "Unfortunate, isn't it?" She enquired. "I found them rather troublesome."

Sasuke stared at the stranger patiently. There was no need for them to become enemies. Both were merely wary of one another and they had settled for discussing their motives rather than fighting. She was already suspicious, and he had to learn more about her. Under normal circumstances, the Uchiha would've challenged her out of curiosity and inspected her powers more thoroughly, but he apparently needed to keep a low profile and so did his companion. Frankly, he didn't know the first thing about her aside from the name and her crime. Shikamaru hadn't been in the Mist for long when they met.

Sasuke had started his mission for the sake of people like Akira Suizen - dangerous people. He was not going to let her slip out of his hands. He needed to get answers from her.

"Are you single?" He asked. There was a faint, yet attractive tug at the corner of Sasuke's lips and by the way Suizen's eyes gleamed, he doubted she was buying it, which was exactly what he was going for.

"I answer to no master and no man, Uchiha." She clicked her tongue prettily. Sasuke saw through the transparent statement.

"You're bad." He said, eyes fixed on hers. "Very, very bad…"

She smiled, resting her chin on the palm of her hand casually. "Either way, you haven't been a notably good boy yourself, I hear." Suizen hummed good-naturedly, in midst of their daring battle for dominance. They were pushing one another. Sasuke leaned in.

The Uchiha's lips were moving, but his eyes were expressionless throughout their eerie foreplay. "I can't say I have." Being as close as those two were now, Sasuke deliberately had his palm hover the skin of the crook of her neck before touching it. "It doesn't seem as if you'd mind."

Suizen tilted her chin up. "Intimately, sure I don't. Yet… I don't like bad boys snooping around my sand castles and demolishing them out of spite." Her eyes were doe and as Sasuke's hand cupped the back of her neck, they could feel each other's breath.

"Your choice of material is a little strange." Sasuke said. She suddenly sickened him. "Well, I wouldn't like to scare my stalkers away with the good stuff." The girl smirked as she reached out to play with Sasuke's hair. His body briefly tensed in anger - it was as if she knew his greatest pet peeve.

"Why do you snoop around?" She questioned.

"I thought it was odd that we were travelling in the same direction so I let you go ahead. You can't blame me for being curious about what it is you do. Is it a bloodline limit? A jutsu? I've never seen it before." The forged casualness of the conversation seemed to be appeasing to the girl- exciting, even. Sasuke was not a patient man – he didn't like playing games.

"I'm too shy to answer that question." She fanned her face with the palm of her hand although their noses were inches away. "I'm an earthling."

Sasuke reluctantly chuckled at her statement. It was dry and lifeless. "That much is obvious." That is all she was doing – stating the apparent, not giving him any real information.

Suizen heaved. "Care to share exactly how you learned my name?" She asked, lacing her fingers out of his hair and sliding them down his pale neck.

"I heard it through the grapevine." Sasuke started, caressing her nape leisurely. "You're almost like an urban legend in the Land of Earth. It made me curious, although few things do." He paused, smoothly delivering his lie. "In one place, I heard that you're a… Swordsman. I wonder why that is."

Her eyes gleamed and he almost faltered. Had he said something wrong? "There is no such thing. Do you see a sword on me?" She made a fair point. Her hand was cold against his skin.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. "Pity I stuck around then. I overestimated you, although that technique is quite impressive."

Suizen licked her lips. "Don't take this the wrong way - I didn't counter you to let you judge my abilities. I countered you to ask you to leave unless you gave me a good reason as to why you are going to the Mountains' Graveyard." She stated coyly.

Sasuke closed his eyes. "I have every right and reason to visit that place… It's a historical monument, and of great importance to my clan." He opened them.

She was expressionless. "Should I believe you?" Suizen asked.

"Why not?" He pondered.

Suddenly, both of their hands twisted in mirrored motions, fingers wrapping around one another's throat. Holds were firm and Sasuke's nostrils flared as they glared at one another.

"You don't want to play this game, Uchiha." Her grip tightened, and so did his. His frown deepened as their holds grew firmer and firmer. Sasuke figured he'd had enough. As his fingers were about to dig into her skin, they penetrated a harder surface. Suizen's entire body turned to stone and broke into pieces.

His eyes widened as the chunks and gem dust floated away in a slow motion. This wasn't supposed to happen.

Not in his genjutsu.

He was about to retrieve his outstretched arm when a layer of stone started forming up his fingers and down to his elbow in lightning speed. He cussed as it shattered. Sasuke looked down at his upper limbs. He had no arms now.

No, not in his genjutsu.

He looked around. The entire inn started shaking. It turned into red sapphire before bursting. The moment Sasuke turned on his Sharingan, he found himself in a different place. Standing on the cliff as the rain fell, in the dark, hovering over the frozen camp. His heart was beating rapidly as he fumed in anger and confusion. He quickly sent a chidori towards the clouds, and when the light appeared, he saw that the blue stone was spotless - no engravings, no imperfections, no nothing; and first of all, no Akira Suizen.

Had it ever been his genjutsu to begin with?

Uchiha Sasuke had never been so silently furious in his life. Heaving a troubled breath, he turned around. There she was, beaming at him. "I had you at _leave_." Suizen smirked. Not sparing a single second, Sasuke ran towards her, Kusanagi slicing through the rain. They went back and forth for what felt like hours.

* * *

"Hanabi!" An obnoxiously loud voice echoed the night over the Hyuuga compound. Most of its residents were slumbering with sleeping plugs or trembling in annoyance as he could've been heard throughout the entire complex. "Hanabi!" It kept getting louder and louder, and the child behind the gates simply wouldn't accept the denial.

A guard cried. "Lord Konohamaru, please understand Lady Hanabi does not wish to speak to anybody at the moment!" Ko's tone was wavering. The reason why he'd been sent out to counter the young boy was because he was presumably the most patient Hyuuga in the family. The others would've wounded him hours ago, as he'd been there ever since Hanabi had skipped their team's morning training session. Both could feel dozens of Byakugan eyes burning holes through their heads, although Konohamaru paid them little heed.

"You're lying!" The tall boy yelled, handsome brown hair stirring as he turned to look at his teammate's kin. "You're keeping her captive! You're giving her the seal, aren't you?!" Konohamaru bit, on the verge of tears out of worry. The girl was many times less elegant and poised than your average Hyuuga, but she was never late. Konohamaru knew she would've made it known if she wasn't coming. This absence was completely out of character. "HANABI!" He called again, in the loudest voice his tired lungs and sore throat could muster, and suddenly the wooden gate of the compound slammed open.

"Hanabi!" He observed, wide eyed and with a smile stretching across his features. He took a few steps towards the frowning girl in a white kimono, and as he was opening his arms and offering a hug, he was met with a violent fist to the head which sent him flying back. Konohamaru swallowed some dust and dirt and he groaned, trying to pull himself together. She was really the only person in the world who could catch him so off-guard like that.

He averted his gaze towards the Hyuuga princess who was seething at the entrance. She was biting her lip as he rose to his feet. He was simply awestruck and baffled at her desperate expression, scratching the throbbing side of his head.

"Follow me, you fool." Hanabi muttered through her teeth before storming into the complex. Konohamaru glanced at Ko and the other guard whose name he did not know, before nodding and skipping towards his friend.

He had trained in the Hyuuga compound before, although his visiting Hanabi's personal quarters was a first. They sat beneath a warm kotatsu, limbs brushing against one another. The girl hadn't bothered serving the tea which a maid had put on the ground near the entrance. It was left to cool and evaporate in the far corner for Hanabi knew that Konohamaru hated the drink and she had no appetite for it whatsoever. He was watching her intently, staring with those big brown eyes, gathering up the patience he normally didn't have as he waited for her to begin explaining her issues. He had so many questions, but she had even more answers. She gulped. "Konohamaru…" The girl started, weakly. "How much can I trust you?"

Her lilac orbs bore into his warm ones as they widened briefly.

She had always told him everything, which was why the inquiry was so out of the blue. Hanabi had cried and told him about her sister's Byakugan in the basement of the Main House in midst of washing machines and freshly cleaned, pale-colored laundry baskets when they were twelve years old, only recently having graduated from the Academy.

"I'd die for you." He whispered words one might've considered too great for his tender age of seventeen, but they were true.

"I know." She heaved, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. The boy had noticed she looked tired, but now that he saw her move, he could tell she probably hadn't slept all night. "You're stupid." Hanabi scoffed and her teammate grinned good-naturedly.

"I know." He acknowledged, trying to falter her frown.

The Hyuuga slammed her small fist against the kotatsu. "You're all stupid!" She yelled. Konohamaru ran a hand through his chocolate brown locks. He wanted her to talk and when Hanabi started screaming, it was a good sign that she was going to spill soon. He suppressed a beam. The girl he knew and secretly loved wasn't the prim and proper lady her sister was born to be, and as much as he respected Hinata, he liked Hanabi better this way, when she wasn't trying to be something that she was not.

"You're brat, you know that, right?" He enquired with a lopsided grin. She flushed in a mixture of endearment, annoyance and sadness.

"Shut up, Stupid…" She uttered, scratching the bridge of her nose.

"So…" Konoh]maru leaned over the table, beige mattress with autumn leaves cascading down his lap and sides. It was beautiful, warm and custom made for the young Hyuuga who frankly lacked refined taste. "Will you tell me what's wrong now? It's been seven hours since I got here and you sure have taken your sweet time with—Ouch!" His monologue was interrupted by another smack to the head.

Hanabi fell back in her seat, ignoring Konohamaru's groans. "A gentleman must have patience." She hummed darkly, glancing at the boy as he straightened himself.

"You don't have to be violent about it!" He cried, rubbing the forming bruise in his hair.

Hanabi snarled. "You're one pathetic excuse of a friend."

The remark made Konohamaru snicker bashfully. "I may do a better job at being your boyfriend then." He sang as a blush dusted the girl's cheeks.

"You're stupid…" She murmured, avoiding his tender gaze.

"What happened...?" He finally asked, having lost most of that signature humor which usually wove itself through his tone of voice. Konohamaru was serious and Hanabi mustered the strength to speak about it, finally. She was still red in the face and her teammate knew that she was naturally very proud, like any other Hyuuga out there. They were taught to be poised and never appear to be hurting or stressed, for they cared all too much about what people think. All of them had very layered personalities and flaws they hid deftly. He was the only outsider she let in on her turmoil, perhaps the only one at all. Konohamaru felt privileged. Hyuuga Hanabi was just amazingly intriguing to him, like that.

The girl shifted in her seat. Her hand disappeared as she pulled out a mysterious bunch from under the kotatsu. Konohamaru suppressed a laugh as she placed a heavy box of lavender scented tissue paper onto the table. "It's about Hina-nee."

* * *

"I'll see you soon." Shikamaru kissed the top of his lover's head tenderly. Temari clung onto the sides of his vest tightly whilst biting her lip.

She gazed up at him. "I want to go with you." She stated for the hundredth time that hour and her husband softened, tucking a stray strand of messy hair behind her ear.

"You can't walk, Temari…" He said. "We'll see each other soon." The Nara tried to reason, even though he was arguably even more reluctant to leave her side.

"Six months was enough." She uttered weakly, knowing there was little point in fighting about it. That was the last thing she wanted to do. His head dipped down and their lips met, molding together in a storm of longing and adoration.

"I know… I hate it too…" He whispered against her mouth before kissing her again. He'd spent sleepless nights imagining how holding her again would feel. "You know I'll always come back here."

Temari threw her arms around his shoulders and he embraced her upper body will all gentle force he had. He chuckled against her shoulder. "I have a Queen to serve… I can't let her down, can I?"

The woman laughed lightly as she caressed the back of his head which was buried in the crook of her neck. She felt something cold touch it. "No, you can't…" Temari sighed. "…crybaby."

"I missed you so much..."

Minutes later, Shikamaru was strolling down the streets of Konoha. The night air was caressing his moist eyes which he rubbed in discomfort. Dawn was nearing, although only an eerie shadow of sunlight was hovering over the Hokage monuments and the moon and stars were still prevailing in the sky. The meeting point was pretty far from the Nara residence. Since he'd naturally stalled his parting with Temari, halfway through Konoha, he started deftly skipping over rooftops. After a couple of minutes, he quietly landed on a lamppost which was lighting the narrow street in front of the Hyuuga compound. His shadow was barely visible in the darkness as the beam only illuminated the narrow circle beneath and in front of the lamp.

He was sure that the Hyuuga guards could see him had they tried, but he decided to trust Yamato and follow directions in spite of personal doubts. He was told to wait, so he did. Shikamaru hadn't botherer checking his watch – the person he was expecting was never, ever late. He trusted that he'd probably come early since she wasn't yet in front.

After a couple of moments, the wooden gate was pushed open from the inside, and through the narrow crack, a figure soundlessly slipped into the cool of the withering night. He would've had a hard time identifying her garments in the dark anyways, but he was positive he recognised the signature black cloak which traveled down to her knees. Her hair was pulled out of her face in a milkmaid braid she'd worn on most of their missions together and as she entered the circle of yellow light beneath his lamppost, he identified boots which were part of the Hyuuga's standard ANBU gear. Shikamaru was fairly certain that inside the bag she was carrying or hanging from her hips, he'd find a mask.

"You look good." He commented, still towering her, standing at a generous height. She didn't even need her Byakugan to make out his silhouette in the dark – her normal vision was sharper than a normal shinobi's either way. Shikamaru, on the other hand, could clearly see a small smile spread across her features as she gazed up at him.

"Thank you." She said. The comment sounded less reassuring every time, but the pair weren't personally acquainted, hence her lack of remark. She hardly felt good.

"You're going as jonin?" The princess asked, and Shikamaru noted the odd manner in which her eyes reflected light as her head was tilted upwards and towards him to peek at his vest.

"A few of us are going as jonin and the few of you are going as ANBU." Smoothly, Shikamaru bent his knees before jumping off the lamppost, landing somewhere behind the girl. She turned around to face him directly and see him clearly as he was too in the beam's way. "But for now, it's just the two of us." He stated.

She nodded – Kakashi had mentioned that he would be the one to brief her on the matter.

The tall Nara cleared his throat. "We have to take care of something before the others meet us in the Hidden Sand next week. I'm not quite sure who will be going, but we have a stop to make."

The Hyuuga blinked up at him with doe and attentive eyes before nodding. "What exactly is this stop you speak of?" She asked and Shikamaru chuckled.

"I think you should have quite a good idea as to what it may be."

She smiled. "You can't ever be sure."

Shikamaru rolled his shoulders. "I happen to have overheard that there had been a complication during your last meditation, Hinata."

She averted her gaze for a moment before staring back at him. "Unfortunately so..."

The corner of her companion's lips inches upwards. "I happen to have overheard that it wasn't complete failure anyways."

Hinata tucked a strand of midnight blue hair behind her ear. "It was an unpleasant experience but it seemed to have fulfilled its purpose."

Shikamaru's eyes gleamed. "I also happen to have overheard that you know where Uchiha Sasuke is."

Hinata's visage softened as she nodded again. "Yes, I know where Uchiha Sasuke is."

* * *

"It's actually quite fascinating that an average human nose can remember 50,000 different smells. You must possess at least one third olfactory receptors more than a dog, and compared to us?" A bashful giggle escaped the medic's throat as she remembered the facts fondly. They were seated in the largest booth of the eerie dango shop, just the three of them. Shino and the girl hadn't dared take another bite of the most disgusting dango they had ever tasted while Kiba wasn't going to let that stop him from finishing his meal.

Inuzuka seated next to the girl chuckled. "It's just… fucking…awesome how you know that, Sakura… But I'm still not letting you do your science voodoo on my brain." He stated.

Sakura snickered. "You've made that abundantly clear, Kiba. I doubt it's _that_ great anyways." She said.

The hound master glanced at her dismissively. "You have a book fetish, Sakura, think about that."

Shino scoffed. "You're disgusting Kiba."

His teammate stood up from his seat and stretched his legs. "Oh yeah? Go hump a tree, Bug-Boy."

"There, there, kink-shaming isn't nice." The male turned around to gaze at the approaching form of one Kakashi Hatake who had entered the oriental dango shop.

"Good morning, Lord Sixth." Shino rose and bowed to the man respectfully to which Sakura rolled her eyes until Kiba fell to his knees and he too, bowed his head until his nose was caressing the cold floor.

"Good morning!" He yelled atop of his lungs.

"I never knew you felt that passionately about me, mutt." A familiar voice rang and Kiba looked up angrily to see one smiling face of Yamanaka Sai beaming down at him. He turned around and realized that Kakashi had simply walked past. The hound master sweat dropped, but he didn't mind. As he stumbled back to take his place at the booth, Sai couldn't help but admire the fact that the Inuzuka acted like a dog in every single way. He was painfully loyal and even though he was annoying and overly competitive, he gravely respected authority figures.

The incomplete teams seven and eight, the four exceptional shinobi were seated beside and opposite of their previous Hokage who, after a few minutes of tolerating chatter, broke the ice.

"Attention, please." He coughed into his fist. The young ones all stared at him. "I have something important to say." Kakashi proclaimed elegantly.

"In a dango shop?" Kiba could barely pronounce his sentence as one piece of the desert was inside of his mouth.

"No… elegance, whatsoever." Sakura murmured as she threw some tissues in his face.

"You're all leaving for Suna in one week." Kakashi interrupted. The notion made the table grow silent as the present party exchanged glances.

Kiba slowly and quietly chewed on his meal while wiping the excess sauce off the corners of his lips. It was definitely odd.

Shino was the first to ask questions. "Why?" He inquired and everybody patiently waited for a response.

"Mission." Kakashi said.

Sakura frowned. "What do you mean..? I'm not on active duty anymore." She pondered in confusion. It was true that Sakura was Head of Medical Ninjutsu in Leaf Hospital – that required a lot of work and she'd only left the village on a handful of occasions during the past few years.

Kakashi nodded. "You will make an exception. Ino will replace you while you're gone."

The way Sai twitched fondly at the mention of his lover's name was barely noticeable, but it was there. "Next week starts Ibiki's shift in the Interrogation force, so Ino will be free." He smiled as he stated. Sai knew Ino loved when he was being attentive, so he usually acted as if she were watching. In order to decide whether something he'd do or say was socially appropriate or not, he usually imagined what Ino's reaction would be. She was his moral compass.

"I don't understand." Kiba started. "Why all of us? Why Suna? Why a dango shop? Why this shop, this is the worst dango I've ever tried! It tastes like radiation!" He was bemused. Naruto could've easily summoned them and handed them a mission in the Hokage tower, and Kakashi could've done so himself.

That morning he had woken up with a time and an address written in permanent marker on his forehead and he assumed that that was the way the others had gotten there as well... or maybe something less embarrassing. Thinking it was a practical joke pulled by a friend, he hadn't thought much of it even when the address brought him to an unfamiliar food station where he was greeted by the early birds, Shino and Sakura. Inside of the shop worked a single old lady who hadn't reappeared ever since she served their food. Kakashi chuckled as somebody edged closer to the booth.

"This isn't a dango shop, Kiba." The crowd turned around to face the intruder. The old lady who seemingly ran the shop beamed at them and the Inuzuka didn't know what to be more creeped out by – the fact that she knew his name or the exclamation itself. She was short and sort of cute looking, actually.

"W – What?" Sakura muttered before the lady's small body started twisting and turning as if it were made of clay. She screamed and jumped to her feet, knocking some dango off the low table, facing the enemy with her fists up in the air. Standing behind them was Orochimaru clad in the woman's attire.

"Ka – Kakashi Sensei!" She yelped before the man started laughing.

"Quit it, Yamato." He said. 'Orochimaru' chuckled before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Sakura's emerald eyes were wide and rimmed with tears gathering at her waterline. Her breathing was heavy as she pierced the man in front of her with her frightened gaze.

"I'm sorry!" He said stepping towards her and pulling her into a friendly hug. Nevertheless, Sakura was numb.

"Captain…" She whispered in disbelief, stunned and feeling sick to her stomach. "Don't ever… do that again." She said in a pained voice as her chin rested on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, it was a joke."

She suppressed a sob. "Don't ever… do that… again!" Sakura shouted before pulling out of his embrace and punching him into the floor. Unsurprisingly, the body was replaced with a wooden log, but what startled everybody present was that as she couldn't stop herself, her fist collided with the ground forcefully and as she pulled her hand away, she saw that the ground wasn't even scratched. Everybody had held their breath, waiting for the entire building to collapse, but everything seemed to be too fine. Her eyes were wide as they inspected the spotless wooden floor boards before examining her fist. Her knuckles had turned red from the impact. She quickly turned around to face Kakashi before turning to Yamato who was a few feet to her side. "What is this place?"

Moments later, all were comfortably seated in the spacious booth in the empty eatery.

"This is ANBU and its sick sense of humor." Yamato beamed as he started explaining. "You couldn't break the floor tiles because your fist was chakra infused. Had it not been... Well, that wouldn't have been very nice. The entire shop is built out of my wood which is mostly chakra-resistent. They decided to come up with a more convenient and secretive way of meeting up and discussing missions. Anybody can be followed to the headquarters of the Hokage Tower and this is a less transparent meeting spot."

Sakura scoffed. "Was this Naruto's idea?"

Kakashi nodded lightheartedly.

"He wanted a ramen stand, but once we explained that the food would have to be disgusting, he was put off. He hates dango anyways." Sai laughed eerily, elaborating.

"What if a civilian enters the shop, or somebody who isn't ANBU's confidant?" Shino asked with curiosity.

Yamato pointed towards the very entrance of the eatery. "See that clock over there?" The plain contraption hung above the wooden door.

"It's broken." Kiba noted.

Yamato beamed. "If a person without the Seal of Confidence or the ANBU tattoo is present, all hands of the clock tick. If only ANBU are present, only the hand for seconds moves, and if only those with the Seal of Confidence are in the shop, the time reads 10:10, just like it does now."

"So cool…" Sakura hummed.

Kiba merely stared at the clock. "Don't tell me Naruto actually remembered all of this?" He blinked, unable to recall the rules said to him seconds ago.

"He keeps a memo." Kakashi nodded in understanding of his questions.

Sai continued. "Anyhow, he's not allowed here. He'd attract too much attention." He said.

"How come you aren't asking any questions?" Kiba raised an eyebrow at the pale member of Team 7.

"Sai has already been alerted of the situation. We ran into each other." Kakashi said in a melodic tone of voice. The ex-Root ANBU at his side bit his lip. His lover had told him lying was necessary at times, so he chose not to correct his senior. Kakashi had come to his place first thing in the morning and talked to him an Ino about Hinata and his upcoming mission. He had mentioned Hinata and Shikamaru's venture and its nature, and the others weren't supposed to know that.

"You are all to be in the Hidden Sand in a week, meaning departure should be in four or five days, depending on your pace of preference." Sakura frowned at Yamato's explanation. Something still didn't seem to be quite right. Ino could've easily replaced her if the mission required medical attention. Why Haruno Sakura?

"What are we going for anyways?"

Kakashi heaved. As expected of her to be picky with information – noisy as one wise Uchiha had once put it so nicely. The most annoying thing was that her questions usually made sense.

"You will know once you get there. The reason why we've gathered you all here was because of… well, practicality. The only thing you need to do for now is get to Suna in seven days."

* * *

 **Author's Note #2**

I just wanted to let you know that I hate self-inserts, so Akira Suizen is not one. Tell me your impressions! I really don't want to spoil this story with a bad OC, although I do want her in for the sake of the plot-line. Also, I feel like I want to explore Kakashi's character a bit more with putting him in context of people outside the main cast.

A wonderful guest commenter asked about the fate of Naruto and his love for Hinata. There will be other pairings and some have already been introduced (ShikaTema, SaiIno). I personally feel really sympathetic towards Sakura even though I'm the author who made her that way, for some reason. I won't neglect her, but as far as Naruto goes, no, his love is too strong to whither that easily. Both him and Hinata love each other the same way they did during The Last, so this power (which is the first straying from the canon, chronologically) makes Hinata realize that if they stay together and marry, Naruto will eventually die for her, and she doesn't want that. Other powers of the Byakugan, other consequences of its awakening will be revealed through the story, along with the details of Hinata's vision of his death!

Another guest commenter called me capable of writing a "beautiful and intelligent story" and did I almost tear up at that? Almost – just almost. These positive stimuli really motivate me to write more!

Sakura isn't 'sexually frustrated', she's angry and confused because she'd waited for Sasuke for such a long time. She feels as though everybody is moving on, while she's stuck in the past. During those few years, Sakura just worked and trained while her friends were living their lives, dating, experiencing new things. She's frustrated because time is flying by and she's panicking because she feels like she is being left behind which is why she tries to be helpful and keep everything under her control.

SasuHina is the main pairing, so they will meet soon.

I always thought that it made no sense how the Sharingan has a power-up, but the Byakugan doesn't. For years I'd searched for stories about it, but only after I got sick did I really decide to go for it. I love stories about strong Hinata, because I think that she is a character with so much potential that hadn't been fulfilled in the original series. Even so, I see people tend to make her OOC in those kinds of stories so I really want to portray Hinata the way she really is –kind, selfless, gentle, but strong and capable of carrying burdens such as a power that she doesn't feel she is right to have. I feel like Hinata really doesn't have enough self-worth and I want to explore that.


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's Note_ : Thank you for tuning it, everybody! Your reviews are very helpful!

It's amazing that some of you have pointed out that the idea of the Byakugan evolving is unique, because I've spent my entire childhood fantasizing about it. Now that I'm grown and nobody's written anything that could drown my curiosity, I decided to do it myself. I'm just imagining this Byakugan to be an amazing emotional and physical stress and putting it on Hinata (who is perceived as a brittle character by many) is my trying to really emphasize her mental strength which people often deem useless.

Naruto and Hinata do love each other, but giving up on him is what I imagine she would do if she realized that she was putting him in danger.

So far we know that her Byakugan can see to great distances and is capable of meditating. I don't know how clear or unclear this is, but I might just explain it now – the meditation is her hibernating and giving the Byakugan partial control of her conscious mind for the purpose of finding their target's face or chakra signature. Sakura wanted to study it, but Hinata is protective of her eyes. She only lets Kakashi study them, and only lets Ino in on her psychological state and secrets. They deal with two separate situations both related to her eyes, so they are like her confidants.

The reason why she collapsed has actually been hinted already, it kind of makes sense, but I wouldn't have noticed it had I been reading it and this were somebody else's story.

A guest commented something about the caption, and now that I think about it, it does suck. It doesn't explain the story whatsoever. I had always thought it was cute and funny when authors on this site would write '(suck at descriptions, story isn't bad)' at the end, but I relate to that so much, it's sad. Do you have any suggestions about it? PM me if you do!

And also, Temari wasn't smoking in the first chapter! She was just toying with the cigarette in reminiscence of Shikamaru. I wanted it to be a bit of a poetic and symbolic moment, so I'm sorry if I didn't phrase it well.

 **PS** – Feel free to ask questions so that I know which ones you are most eager to have answered! That way, I'll know what aspect of the story to focus on!

This chapter was edited (30. December 2017).

* * *

"We ought to head further north." Hinata whispered.

She was watching.

Shikamaru heard her words through the wind gushing past. He stood towering a dangerous height, on top of one of the tallest trees, carefully observing the girl standing over at the next trunk. Their bodies rose above an infinite sea of greenery.

The Nara suppressed his discomfort and masked it with a passive visage. Hinata was turned sideways as she slowly opened her eyes. The blue lines subtracted into her lids and waterline, eerily crawling up and down her skin. The flicked frames around her eyes faded before becoming nothingness. After a few seconds, she turned to him.

"Okay." He said, avoiding her gaze. He had a feeling that she noticed his unease, but certainly ignored it. Hinata understood; it was the first time Shikamaru had seen her do _it_. Her normal Byakugan could function perfectly, although for tracking Uchiha Sasuke at such a distance, she used alternate, more powerful methods. That way it took a lot less effort than straining her regular technique would, even though she initially had a ridiculously wide range.

Shikamaru licked his lips. "I'll get used to it." Her companion needed to clarify before facing her again. Some things just didn't need to be said to be understood.

Hinata was an extremely perceptive person. Her soft expression turned into a bitter-sweet one as it stretched into a faint smile. "I know you will." They always do. – She kept those words to herself.

Her ANBU mask was pushed to the side of her head. She could have just as easily activated her technique with it on, but Shikamaru would need to adjust if they were to work together. Plus, there were few things she had to hide from the Nara for to Kakashi; he was some sort of a proxy.

The pair then turned to observe the stunning landscape. They were edging closer to the northern regions of the Land of Fire and beyond the pale greenery stretching before them, dark mountains rose from the ground, separating their homeland from the Land of Grass.

Hinata sighed, white face reflecting the colors beaming over them. Shikamaru glanced. She had always had a way of blending in - seeing her now, as the dominant figure in his line of sight made him realize how well she impersonated solitude.

And she didn't always use to be like that. In the past, he knew Hyuuga Hinata to be a speck of femininity and sheepish stutter, constantly with her friends, teammates or Neji.

Those two were social beings, but always remained mysterious to some extent. Most people tended to think that they had her all figured out but then she'd always surprise by displaying a different side to her, baffling the audience. Frankly, after the demise of Neji, all had expected her to crumble. The only love and warmth she knew in her childhood was one she gave to her sister. The first time she felt appreciated and understood was upon meeting that boy.

Shikamaru thought it was a Hyuuga thing that you could never be sure of how many secrets they hide. Blood is thicker than water and Neji and Hinata were their fathers' children. In spite of all, they both made friends and allies and became more open people than most of their kin.

Hinata was a heavily introverted and quiet person, famously adored by many and arguably the loveliest creature the Hyuuga had produced in centuries. She had beauty, prestige, humility, friends, decent skills and an awesome Byakugan range. Everybody wanted to see her, to meet her and being in her company was considered a luxury after the War had ended and she became widely known for playing a pivotal role in Naruto's ending it. Still, after Neji died, she couldn't be that same girl anymore.

She was just as beautiful, prestigious, humble, friendly and capable as before, but she couldn't be the loveliest of creatures anymore. On the surface she was flawless, but those who knew her came to see how a large piece of her was missing. Naruto seemed to have been able to bring back her shine, but now she was just singing softly in the heavy rain for no one to hear.

The sky resembled a canvas of coral and pastel watercolor, yet darker hues penetrated its lightness. The atmosphere was heavy and the air dry as the sun set.

Sometime later, darkness prevailed.

"Shikamaru…" Her voice stirred him from his daze.

"Yes..?" He inquired whilst sitting on a log. In the dome of treetops and maze of tree trunks, shadows danced across all that moved. Hinata took a step forward.

"We'll need to put down the fire once sun sets entirely." She started, demurely. "Also… there's a stream… over there." The girl pointed towards her right and his left.

"Okay."

* * *

"Where the fuck is she?!" Naruto rubbed his temples as the Inuzuka alpha male stormed into his office, screaming. People really had too much liberty around him.

"Hello, Kiba." He heaved before facing the man who came towards his desk and slammed his fists against it.

"Where is Hinata, you son of a—"

"Hey!" Naruto frowned.

Kiba lifted his hands and inhaled before burying his face in the palm of his hand and pacing. "Where… Sheesh… Where is Hinata?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he straightened himself in front of his Hokage.

The blue eyed man glared for a moment before nodding. "She's on a mission – sit before you burst my eardrums." Naruto pleaded as his visitor was about to voice another complain. Kiba collapsed into the red sofa behind him, biting his lips.

He was not a patient man.

Naruto scribbled a few finishing words onto a scroll before setting it aside. "Speak." He then said, urging the Inuzuka who eagerly started.

"Besides the fact that she is in no shape to fight and that straining her Byakugan is still risky, I will assume that you and Kakashi know what you're doing. So just tell me, what is she doing and who is she with?" He bit, desperately fighting his rage and impatience. Naruto stretched his left shoulder.

After discussing the situation with Kakashi, he'd hoped that nobody would make a fuss about her absence, but the Inuzuka never failed to disappoint.

"She is with Nara Shikamaru and searching for Uchiha Sasuke."

Kiba's expression turned from an unnerved one to a bemused one. "What the fuck, man?! That's our mission! And I thought that Shikamaru was away!"

"Don't cuss at me, Kiba, Shino received notice that the entirety of Team 8 is off the case this morning and Shikamaru came back last night. I assume you're back from your visit to ANBU's newest meet-up spot and that you know about your mission. That's what you should focus on." The Hokage elaborated before slightly leaning in across his desk. His tone of voice lowered. "And just so you know, I am the last person in the world who would put Hinata in any sort of remotely dangerous situation if she weren't capable of handling it. Kakashi guaranteed her stability, Shikamaru bears the Seal just like you and Sasuke isn't a threat. Don't go insulting me, Inuzuka, Hinata may compromise my judgement, but I'd do anything to protect her." Naruto said and watched as Kiba threw his head back and groaned before resuming eye contact.

"Okay, so…" He collected his thoughts and gulped. "Why didn't you send us to track down that bastard? Us as in Team 8 because Shikamaru doesn't know the first thing about tracking and Hinata is weak, she hadn't even completed meditation, they're searching for a needle in a haystack, you should know that." Kiba growled.

Naruto ran a hand through his short hair. "No, no and no… Hinata hadn't completed the process, but as I've heard, she still managed to locate Sasuke. Kakashi told me she looks fine and feels fine, no trauma was caused by the shock and Shikamaru is merely escorting her, now that we know Sasuke's exact location. I didn't need all of your team on it, and I especially didn't need you barking at the target since it can be avoided." He pointed at the Inuzuka who faltered suddenly.

"Wait…" He started. " _Kakashi_ told you that Hinata is fine?" Kiba was growing angrier and more confused by the second. "I know things aren't that good, but aren't you supposed to be her boyfriend or something? She—"

"She doesn't need me." Naruto cut him off. He averted his gaze to the paperwork on his desk, but Kiba couldn't make himself attack the Hokage. As his eyes shied away and his lips trembled, those ocean blue orbs were tainted with a misery Kiba couldn't understand to its fullest, but could certainly recognize.

"What do you mean? Of course she needs you, you idiot. She… cares for you." When Kiba's raspy voice delivered those delicate words, Naruto leaned back in his seat and blinked up.

"I love her." He stated as he had a million times before. "But she doesn't want to be with me right now and I am nothing if not loyal to Hinata and her choices." That sentence burned Naruto's conscience.

Kiba gripped his knees, fuming. He had to hold himself back – he heaved shakily. The Inuzuka had heard those words, but he still didn't believe them. Hinata's decision was one he was sure he'd never stomach. In spite of all dislike he had ever felt for the Uzumaki, Kiba had no idea why and she was doing it. Hinata had always been an open book to him, but ever since the War itself, his perception of her started being a little hazy. She became increasingly difficult to understand and at this point, Kiba could barely say that he knew the girl in question, as much as he loved her and she loved him.

"You're giving up – just like that?" He glared at his best friend's lover who seemed to be revoking himself of the title.

"No." Naruto quickly denied. He exhaled deeply. "No, I'm not."

Kiba bit his lip as his eyebrows curled. He was overwhelmed.

"I bottled up so many frustrations and insecurities, doubts in myself and our friendship just because I believed that 'at least _Naruto_ knows what's going on'. I told myself that it was pointless to worry because you'd be protecting her, was I a fool for believing that you would?"

The Inuzuka paused before continuing. "Do you think Shino and I have it easy? I get you tend to overlook us. As a unit we're not nearly as extravagant as Team 7, nor as dramatic as Team Asuma, but we've been together longer than any of you, we still are. I let you _take care_ of the girl I love more than anything in this world, the girl I consider to be my own sister, the girl who's taken care of me so many times before. I'm a fucking mutt, okay. I may not be the brightest bulb in the box, not the hottest eye candy nor the strongest of shinobi, but I loved every single time Hinata had proven herself to be better than I am." There was a look of ferocity in his eyes. "Ever since we were kids, to us it was plainly obvious how smart she is, how strong she could be, and with time she came to be debatably the most beautiful woman in the village. I love having been there to see her develop and grow as a person and the moment the two of you got together, I passed that privilege onto you. You were supposed to watch her become a woman, a mother, grow old together." He shook his head, glaring at Naruto's uneven breathing and pleading eyes.

He resumed. "I was genuinely happy when you finally came around and took your head out of that Uchiha's ass. I was mad, but I was happy because Hinata deserved all the love that you gave her and even more. But then, she started drifting away and I thought that you'd be devoted and responsible enough to hold the ropes and make sure she didn't go nuts over this. You know that she found herself in a situation that triggered her in ways more than one, but I guess I was wrong to think that you wouldn't stumble."

Naruto's heartbeat was spiking as his eyes continued to glister. "Kiba you're talking about things more complicated than you understand –"

"I don't care! All I know is that she's out of your hands and that you broke that promise. You're telling me that now her best friends are Hatake and Yamanaka, the Copycat and the shrink? Stop this nonsense, Naruto, they obviously give her something you couldn't. I'm no better, but we seem to have all been wrong to believe you when you claimed to be all that."

Kiba was _mad_. His hands were up in the air, motions following the dynamic of his driven speech; while Naruto just sat there, wide-eyed. "You don't see her after she suffers through that seizure and send her off on a mission without giving her any real time to recover. You're not only damaging her, but you're also being a fucking jerk about this. Am I supposed to question whether you ever _really_ loved her –"

In lightning speed, a bandaged fist suddenly collided with his jaw and sent him flying through the door of the Hokage's office. Air streamed out of his lungs the second his back hit the wall in the corridor beyond the entrance. A moment too late, Kiba's sharp senses were filled with an overwhelming awareness of the sky-rocketing level of Naruto's adrenaline.

He slid down the wall, jaw throbbing and body aching. "Oh, man…" He groaned, tilting his head down as he rubbed the large bruise forming on the side of his face. His blood went cold, suddenly being jerked into remembering the brute force the most powerful man in the village was capable of. As he blinked through the fog of wood dust, the same hand wrapped around his neck. His eyes widened as Naruto kneeled and brought his face closer.

"I'm not giving up." His voice was deep and threatening, gaze piercing blue. "And you just learn to mind your own business." Naruto's lips trembled for a moment. His eyelids fluttered as he let go of the Inuzuka's neck before trailing up to pat his head. They remained silent for a few moments.

"I'm a useless piece of human trash, I'm a pathetic excuse of a Hokage and I'm incapable of justifying anything I did because I'm so fucking dense that I'm oblivious to most things going on around me. That hasn't changed. But I _never, ever_ break my promises, Inuzuka."

Naruto stood up.

The fog cleared and the ANBU guards were revealed, avoiding looking at the confrontation out of respect and courtesy. Kiba was fuming and in pain. Yet again, his frown dispersed once he heard the proceeding words from the man whose back he was seeing as it disappeared inside his open office.

"I'm sorry."

The Hokage knew that he'd been saying those words too much.

* * *

Temari was breathing heavily while hunched back over a half-empty suitcase. A random piece of clothing was in her fist. It rested upon her hip as she inhaled and exhaled in an even and loud rhythm. Her eyes were closed. "You…" She heaved through her pants. "…are so troublesome."

She straightened her spine and tilted her head back, resting her palm atop of her aching abdomen. Temari caressed it, pleadingly as she started slowly walking towards the kitchen. With shaky hands, she poured herself a glass of water. As the liquid streamed down her throat, the coolness numbed a little bit of her discomfort.

She filled another one, and as the glass cup hit her lips and she started to gulp, a ring came from the door. Shaken by surprise, Temari's hand trembled and water spilled over her mouth, and as she instinctively lowered her head, it also soaked the top of her yukata. As her jaw hung open and she tried to control her raging heartbeat, another ring echoed the traditional Nara household.

She took some paper towels and patted them across her face and torso. "I'm coming!" She yelled before slowly making her way towards the door and opening it. "Ino…" Temari forced a smile even though she was genuinely happy to see the girl.

"Hello, Temari!" She beamed. Her host nodded before letting her inside.

The two hadn't been necessarily fond of each other during the first few years of Shikamaru's dating the Sand princess, but after they'd gotten engaged, Ino decided to give her another chance.

"How are you doing? I haven't seen you in a while…" Ino started once they were sat on the house's back porch. The girl had her legs crossed elegantly, while Lady Nara was comfortably stretching them in the grass.

"After seeing Shikamaru, I was great. Now that he's gone again…" She shrugged, tucking a strand of sandy blonde hair behind her ear. It was out of her usual ponytails. Ino nodded in understanding.

"I haven't seen him since six months ago. I hear that he's gone on a new mission already." She recalled. "How do you know that?" Temari pondered.

Ino chuckled. "Kiba said so. He owed me an apology for wrecking my flower shop this morning while looking for Hinata. He accidentally knocked over a dozen flower pots, Sai wanted to castrate him." She elaborated in good humor while gazing at the plain green garden of her friend's household. Both Shikamaru and Temari were too lazy and disinterested to take care of it or plant flowers for that matter.

"They're searching for the Uchiha." Temari said, even though she was right to assume that Ino knew.

"Hinata's an excellent scout. They'll be back in no time." Ino tried to reassure.

The beautiful foreigner sighed. "I don't doubt that." She heaved.

Ino's mug suddenly reflected suspicion and a hint of disappointment. "Sure." The Yamanaka said lightly, causing her host to face her.

"Speaking of Sai, how is he?" Temari clumsily changed the topic, earning a chuckle from Ino.

"He's good. He's perfect." She sighed, pride woven through her voice.

"I never would've guessed that the two of you would make it this far." Temari admitted to her acquaintance. "Me neither… A few years ago, had we started going out, it wouldn't have lasted, though."

Temari raised a slender eyebrow inquisitively. "How come?" She asked.

"Everything we've been through made us the people we are today. All beautiful experiences, and a surplus of horrendous ones we'd survived forced us to mature and develop into two individuals who just happen to be a good fit." She smiled into her cup. "I was lucky to have witnessed how amazing he is. I don't know what I'd do without him." Ino giggled before eyeing her host. "To be honest, ever since we were teenagers, I'd been jealous of what you and Shikamaru had. Getting with Sai was my lucky break."

Temari blushed and waved her reddening face with her palm. "What – what do you mean? We only started dating after the War…" She uttered in bewilderment.

Ino beamed. "But you had liked each other for a while before that." Her best friend's wife's cheeks were prettily tinted as Ino said, "You know… Shikamaru fell for you real quick. We were seventeen when he told me that you're the one."

Temari slowly nodded, fondly recollecting.

"Honestly…" She started, leaning back. "Even though I am two years older, and at that time I was supposed to be especially smarter and more mature than Shika, all along he was the one pursuing me while I was simply scattered even though I knew we wanted the same things. He had those figured out long before I had, so he really gave me time."

"Patience... " Ino smiled. "We all have a fair share of baggage that ends up weighing on the relationship, but it is our choice to either overcome those issues or give up on something revolutionary. Sai did take a while to get used to a somewhat normal lifestyle… he's still adjusting, but he really does do his best." She sighed, wistfully.

"I miss him already…" Temari uttered, beholding the bleakness of their unkempt garden. "I don't feel like myself when he's not around. I guess that's why we're married." She stated for she understood that the woman by her side more frequently experienced the same longing she was experiencing now.

Sai was away on missions more than Shikamaru. The Nara had been the Hokage's personal assistant and an ANBU only for the sake of being able to anonymously perform tasks for his employer, such as serving as a messenger. He'd never been on ANBU's tracking or assassination missions before. Ino nodded in understanding. His penetrating Mei Terumi's ranks and gathering classified information had been the first genuinely dangerous mission Shikamaru had been assigned to for such a long time and he also hadn't been away from home that much in years.

"Sai is an active member of the Ops. His missions would normally last weeks if not months if it weren't for Team 8 – Hinata, especially." The pale blonde reasoned. "I am very grateful to her. Sometimes she meditates in search for Sai's targets just to help with finding the quickest way even though her assistance might not be needed. She does it as a personal favor, usually off the records. It scares me. There are things that I can't tell you, but she puts herself on the line every time she chooses to help. Her Byakugan is an enormous burden to bear, but she's a professional who wields a dangerous weapon deftly and conscientiously."

Ino recalled, still in awe of her friend's kindness and strength. "Don't worry about them. Hinata will make sure they're in Suna on time. I once heard people say that she's everything Hyuuga and everything not Hyuuga. If there is anything I'd point out from the latter category, she is extremely punctual."

Temari remained silent for a second. "I don't know. Frankly, I am biased and paranoid. Gaara has made it clear for me so many times before… I'm not sure when to trust myself and my instincts and distinguish between rationality and stupidity. That's what Shikamaru does for me. I… _hate_ being apart." She gripped onto her belly subconsciously. "This time around… I trust _him_ , but…"

"That's not the problem." Ino started, a small furrow twisting her brow. "You don't trust Hinata."

Temari bit her peach plump lip, gaze wavering and guts churning in reminiscence of the situation which the blonde was alluding to. "I'm not… about that anymore. I really know that I was wrong." She said.

Ino heaved. "You need to try harder, Temari. You're only hurting yourself if you let these fears consume you." The Yamanaka knew that it was only a matter of time before her best friend's spouse would try to end the conversation. She knew her well enough.

"I can't help it."

Yes, that was still a touchy topic. As an important political figure who also bared the Seal of Confidence, Temari was one of the few people in Suna who were in the know about the little Hyuuga's eye condition. She was also one of the few people who had been against the idea of nurturing her newfound ability.

She'd seen enough in her life to believe that mysterious abnormalities and unnatural strengths such as that one, only ever result in misery.

"I don't dislike Hinata, in fact, I barely even know her." Temari defended. "I understand that she is an exceptional shinobi, an important citizen of the Leaf and a worthy heir to the Hyuuga clan. These are the things I know and I try not to embark on any other wild journey of 'what if's."

Ino chuckled. "You won't feel any better about what you did or what you perceive her to be before meeting her for real." She was persistent.

"I'd rather not talk about this." Temari's green eyes bore into her company's blue ones, as the Yamanaka spoke.

"She is so much like Gaara, isn't she?"

* * *

Hinata's bare feet stirred the cool water absentmindedly. It reached up to her mid-calf and sent goosebumps up her spine. She was seated atop a plain rock, hair wet and left to dry. Her uniform was still intact, yet her guard was slightly down. She had checked – a wide radius surrounding the two Konoha nin was free of any sign of human life. She had checked every nook and corner of the land within a few seconds and a few drops of blue upon her visage. A whisper of pride echoed in her conscious as she realized how much more deft she'd become at controlling her eyes.

There was no need to worry. Even Shikamaru could feel her relative calm. He glanced at her back as he mounted the rock she was sitting on before rolling up the bottom of his joggers and kneeling down next to her.

"It's warmer than I had expected." He murmured as he dipped his larger feet in. Hinata ignored the transparently suppressed sigh of relief as Shikamaru rolled his shoulders. He was excruciated by his previous mission and having not physically strained himself during those six months, he had gotten considerably weaker in stamina.

The girl noted to run at a slower pace the next time they moved – Uchiha Sasuke's presence was on her radar. His life force was stealthy and undisturbed, yet conveniently unmoving.

Through the treetops that surrounded them, the stream mirrored and reflected the moon, stars and color of the dark sky beautifully. "It's wonderful…" Hinata sighed. Her companion blinked a few times, watching his blurred reflection in the water.

"It's nice." He started. "Not necessarily wonderful." Shikamaru paused, deciding to break the ice. "I prefer watching the clouds, but…" There he went with the personal information. He leaned back, head tilting upwards as he supported himself on his palms. "This can do too."

Hinata listened intently. The forest was silent with the exception of their quiet exchange. "I love stargazing." Hinata said before smiling lightly.

 _How odd._ Shikamaru thought. "I see why you may enjoy them." The Nara acknowledged. The stars wove themselves into the celestial canvas beautifully, yet their petite beams were hiding the bigger picture. Massive bodies of burning gas, they were, hiding in plain sight. On many levels, they were beyond fascinating, _captivating_ even.

He glanced at her as she put down a pale white piece of cloth she had dried her hair with, unsuccessfully. Shikamaru briefly related to the struggle. Temari had thick hair as well, although more unruly and shorter than Hinata's. He watched her tie the damp strands back wistfully.

"They are pretty…" She murmured, as if it were a secret Shikamaru ought not to hear. "…but, they are misbalanced and misunderstood. They struggle for a long while until they eventually collapse upon themselves. They explode and whither into nothingness." Hinata wasn't looking at him and Shikamaru's eyes were glued to the stream whilst hers were to the moon itself.

The Nara gulped. He knew the end of that story. "They become black holes." He finished her train of thoughts.

"Yes, they do." Hinata acknowledged. The same smile was lingering on her pale features eerily.

"I didn't know you studied astronomy." He said, glancing at the girl whose pale skin, damp from her drying locks and eyes, glistered in the moonlight.

"I've been reading extensively these past few years…" She sheepishly explained. "I've gained a vast and general comprehension of the way life and universe function, although my knowledge fades in comparison to that of people who've dedicated their lives to studying. I feel like being in this field of work, one may lose touch with reality and neglect a possibility of broadening horizons." Hinata recalled. "There is more to the world than blood, sweat and tears."

"What's reality with all these questions?" Shikamaru pondered. "I used to read, but I figured that learning for the sake of having them answered only leaves one with a load of new ones. Theory is inferior to raw logic."

"Yes, but you were born with an exceptional cleverness, weren't you Shikamaru? I wasn't made to be curious. I was forced to abandon my comfort zone and accept that something neither I nor anybody else could understand, was inside of me. So, I started exploring the world and , at least through pages of books, I began to understand things greater than me and my issues."

A pause – "Are you scared?" Shikamaru then asked.

"Stars can live millions of years." Hinata stated.

The cool air streamed through their lungs as they breathed quietly. Their eyes met.

"Do those years even matter?" He questioned, patiently searching her face for a response.

She sighed. "If they don't, what does?" Hinata started and Shikamaru listened.

"I know how much you know. It's more… _so much_ more than I allow the others to. Kakashi trusts you and so do I. It's tiring, living a life surrounded by whispers and secrets. After we had realized what happened to my eyes, I had two choices. First was to publicize it and the other was to keep it a secret."

"You chose neither." Shikamaru cut in, knowing the answer. Hinata's lilac orbs were cast downwards.

"Maybe that wasn't the right choice either... I don't like to think about it. I don't like to talk about it. It's private – these are my eyes… I was born with them." Their gazes locked. "They changed, somewhere along the way, and they have somewhat changed me, but they're a part of my body. Nothing like this has ever happened to the Byakugan and hopefully, it will never happen again. I don't need this power – nobody should. I am getting better at controlling it, so someday people should be able to forget. One day, hopefully they will be nearly just as unsensational as any other _dojutsu_. I wish history doesn't remember the time the Byakugan evolved and potentially ruined lives around it. I don't want the Hyuuga to be deemed cursed."

She smiled before continuing. "What people don't know can't hurt them. When the star is far away, they don't see how large, how misbalanced it is. They can't see that it's misunderstood and when it does collapse, if it's distant enough, they won't notice it's gone. It's just one star in the sky, ever day new ones appear and disappear but we can't tell. If they don't look for it, they can't be drawn into the black hole and therefore can't be injured."

Shikamaru rolled his head back. "You're hurting yourself." He said, even though his gut was telling him to steer clear of personal topics. The problem was that he knew things and comprehended them. The understanding of Hyuuga's struggle was dangerous. Knowing that there was so much of what he couldn't get was unnerving. Hinata was someone he'd always respected and appreciated, but she was also the greatest secret Konoha had to keep.

Shikamaru shuddered. Temari had always hated secrets.

"I know I am. What matters is that _they_ will stop hurting soon enough." She said.

"Naruto won't let you go." Shikamaru started. "He's too stubborn. He won't stop until the day he dies, you know that."

Hinata licked her lips. "It's not his decision to make." She raised a pale calf from the water and watched as her skin glistered in the moonlight. It dropped back in. "I don't love him as much now. I can't help it." She uttered meekly. Those words sounded so unnatural coming from her, Shikamaru had to snort at them.

"I must admit that you've gotten better at lying ever since your situation occurred, but you can't fool me." The Nara said. Hinata remained silent.

"That's inconvenient." She murmured, scratching the back of her neck. Her low ponytail had dried minutes ago – she could feel the brittle strands as she brought her hand back into her lap.

"He talks about you in his sleep." He said. "Your keeping him in the dark is only hurting him for the time being."

Just as Shikamaru was about to continue, she inhaled deeply. Her eyes widened slightly as she watched the smallest tint of light peek from behind a rock on the opposite side of the stream.

"Ah…" She whispered, as soon enough dozens of fireflies started emerging from the treetops and grass. The forest even smelled like the time Naruto had confessed his love to her.

No wonder that she felt so uneasy.

"I don't know that much about you." Shikamaru said.

"…You know more than most do." Hinata murmured, eyes glued to the yellow creatures dancing over the lake tranquilly and penetrating the darkness.

"But I know that you must have a reason for doing what you're doing." He said.

Hinata smiled. "Thank you."

Shikamaru frowned. "Don't thank me."

She stirred the cool water with her bare feet. For a moment, the Nara couldn't help but marvel over how childish she looked. Sometimes it was hard to stare at her, for in spite of being strangers in practice, he was painfully aware of how troubled she was. That is what most people who knew about her Byakugan felt – fear of the unfamiliar. It was ironic how a person who hated change as much as Hyuuga Hinata had suffered this fate.

In her eyes, this power was illness. He softened as he watched her silently lay her back down onto the rock. Her lilac eyes reflected the stars as she gazed up at them. In moments like these and split seconds of solitude he had witnessed her in during the past few years, Hinata would rarely, but briefly, appear carefree – when she could distance herself from everything she could see.

He sighed. Taking a deep breath of fresh air and sniffing the scent of moist grass surrounding the body of water, he leaned back and crossed his arms beneath his head as he lay.

Fireflies lingered about and their yellow glow was substantially brighter than the weak beams of the stars, though the two wonderfully combined, molding the night sky into an enchanting sight. The stone's surface was cold against their back and thoughts flooded their introverted minds.

"I don't know why, but…" Shikamaru started, breaking the delicate silence. "Temari loves watching the desert. It's unmoving and placid, monotone even, but she is still able to sit and gaze at the dunes for hours at a time. It helps her think, she says."

Hinata listened, gaze unmoving from the night.

Shikamaru thought to his lover's figure curled besides the window of their chamber in Suna. He would just hold her as she observed the unmoving beds of sand stretching before and beyond the blurry horizon. "She can tell when a storm is coming before the winds start moving." He concluded, voice woven with pride while sounding just as conflicted.

"I understand that… Lady Nara doesn't like change either." _Either_ , she said. Shikamaru shuddered as if she'd read his thoughts.

"Yeah. The stillness… soothes her." He confirmed. Hinata's visage deceptively softened as she recalled her last encounter with her companion's beloved.

"Listen, Hinata… Temari had been unstable at the time. She doesn't mean any harm." Shikamaru stated.

Hinata blinked for a moment. "I know she doesn't."

 _"I, Mei Terumi, swear to secrecy and cast my vote to protect this Byakugan by all cost, in the name of the Land of Waves. The Senate stands as my witness." The brunette beauty bit into her finger before leaving a trail of blood on the lengthy scroll she towered upon. There was no hesitation in her voice as she then licked the small wound on the tip of her slender digit before sitting back down onto her cushioned seat at the sleek, horseshoe shaped table._

 _Each of the five parties had the same one laid in front of them._

 _"Mei!" A, The Raikage, growled._

 _The eldest leader coughed. "I cannot stand up, my back is killing me, but yes, I, Onoki of the Land of Earth, agree that we should trust Hatake and keep the girl alive." The Tsuchikage's granddaughter scribbled a few words onto the paper deftly before pulling it towards him. The old man dragged a bloody finger across the paper clumsily, yet it was more than enough._

 _"You are mad!" A insisted. "We in the Land of Lightning have the best dojutsu experts in the world, if you're so keen on keeping her alive, give her to us. We can study the Byakugan and tame it."_

 _"Back off." Tsunade glared as she snapped, voice dripping with venom. She crossed her arms beneath her chest. "The girl is a Konoha citizen and daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi." There was a venomous comment at the tip of her tongue, but she didn't want another war just yet. "We are keeping our bloodlines close to home." There was an incredibly hostile tension on both ends. Just as A was about to bite something out, it was broken by Mifune. "Do the heirs agree?"_

 _Onoki quirked an eyebrow. "Why is this necessary again? No offence sweetie!" He questioned before uttering to his granddaughter reassuringly._

 _Mifune sighed. "The Hyuuga is nineteen years old and is expected to live to see another generation of Kages, if not more than one change. When your heirs take charge, the issue of the Byakugan has to have been closed. Normally, this would be Konoha's decision to make alone, but because they haven't proven themselves the best at controlling their awesome eyes, the treaty stated that they ought to report anomalies to the council. Although, this law was tailored to fit the Mangekyo into the picture. The situation in hand it, as you can see, slightly different…"_

 _Mei looked over her shoulder and exchanged glances with Chojiro who was standing barely two feet diagonally from her. He nodded before addressing the Samurai. "I agree with Lady Terumi. The Mist will continue to have no objections to the Leaf's keeping Hyuuga Hinata alive for as long as they make sure no damage is done." The Swordsman declared._

 _"I, too, support my grandfather's vote." Kurotsuchi said._

 _Mifune looked around. "So far, Konoha, Iwa and Kiri have sworn to protection of the Byakugan." Tsunade turned towards Gaara who had been silent from the beginning and stared at him in utter bemusement. Suna was their greatest ally – why hadn't they spoken yet?_

 _The slender, redheaded man demurely picked up a wooden brush from the metal ink stand. "The Kazekage casts his vote in favor of Hyuuga Hinata." As he opened his mouth to cut his finger, a hand reached and gripped his wrist. A dash of cold wind then followed after and whilst seeing the feminine digits firmly laced around his hand, he looked to the side where he saw his sister's mug, depicting sheer panic. She was breathing slowly as her hair straightened, recovering from the sudden motion._

 _Gaara's eyes were wide for a moment before becoming empty of all confusion._

 _"Temari." He started curtly, unnerved by her prolonged of holding his hand. A few more seconds and it was going to bruise._

 _"No." She muttered._

 _"Temari." Gaara repeated, voice raspy and airy._

 _Her lips were trembling. "It's dangerous." Upon her words, the redhead shrugged her hand off forcefully before straightening his coat. He cleared his throat as Temari brought her fingers to her lips. They were lightly throbbing, but her brother's rejection of her request hurt the most._

 _"You really don't care about what I think, do you?" She uttered, as it there weren't a roomful of Kages listening._

 _Gaara was placid. "This isn't an opinion – it's your fear." He said. As he reached to bite his finger again, Temari slapped his hand away._

 _His breathing was heavy and he was counting seconds in his head. "She's an abomination. It's not even like the Mangekyo as you claim it is, this has never happened in the history of the Hyuuga clan before, yet you choose to ignore it. Think about those dead men, Gaara!" She yelled, teary eyes staring into Gaara's aquamarine orbs._

 _"She's dangerous! –"_

 _"So was I!" Gaara then howled back, desperate for her to understand, but when upset, Temari could hardly pick up subtle hints. She grew silent._

 _"So am I…" He repeated."You're not stopping me from signing this, Temari. You're biased and scared." He paused before frowning. "I was afraid that you would react this way. Because of that, I had taken Kankuro as my heir before our departure. The ceremony was held in front of the Old council last week." Murmur erupted from about the room unevenly, as Temari's eyes widened._

 _"What..?"_

 _The man in question appeared from the shadows and placed his hand on his sister's shoulder. "I'm sorry, sis." He said._

 _"I, heir to the throne of the Land of Wind, second my leader's vote." Kankuro stated evenly, as Gaara bit and signed his scroll._

 _"So, A…" Mei leaned back in her seat. "How's it gonna be?"_

 _"Fuck it." He said before filling out the scroll._

 _Temari stumbled back, collapsing against a familiar chest. "I'm sorry…" Her lover's voice whispered as he pulled her towards the exit. Temari said nothing for she knew that he, too, disagreed with her view. Maybe Gaara was right._

 _She searched for his tender gaze, but they were hidden by an elaborate ANBU mask. "What am I doing?" She whispered as he pushed the door of the meeting room soundlessly._

 _As they slipped into the hallway, her sight was blocked by the height of his frame and wide shoulders. Suddenly, he moved to the side and she was faced with a baffled and flushed Hyuuga Hinata._

 _At that moment, Temari realized that she had heard it all, and Shikamaru pulled his fiancé out of the Hyuuga's way before the blonde would drown in guilt reflected in those iridescent orbs of hers._

* * *

"Okay…" The pink haired woman murmured into the phone. "Alright, just –"She paused, taking a sharp breath. "Alert the family first. Let them decide when we take him off the bypass. There is no way he is waking up either way…" Sakura licked her lips as a high-pitched voice uttered words of compliance into her ear. "Page me if anything comes up." She said patiently before the nurse's panic was replaced with a flat beeping sound.

She rubbed her throbbing temples before catching sight of herself in a mirror peeking from inside the small bathroom attached to her personal office. Oh, it was all _so_ customized to fit her needs.

Sakura bit her lip as she straightened her back – no, it didn't make a difference. She ran a hand down her flat abdomen, stiff as her fingers felt the awkward empty space between her skin and lab coat. She only ever wore a tank top underneath for she almost exclusively took it off while napping on the cold couch in the corner of her office. The Haruno took small steps towards the mirror in the bathroom.

Her reflection was staring back at her. The woman on the other side was scrawny and pale – lifeless, looking past the constant adrenaline pumping through her veins as she juggled surgeries, administrative work, meetings etc. She barely looked any older than her teenage self, yet she felt worn and tired.

Sakura gulped.

Just as she was going to shut the bathroom door behind her, Sakura felt a familiar rhythm of footsteps vibrating through the ground before she actually overheard them near her door. She quickly straightened herself and skipped over to her desk. A second after she was clumsily seated, a knock came.

She cleared her throat. "C – Come on in." She stuttered, accidentally. After tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear, she quickly grabbed a pen in order to enhance the illusion of an occupied individual.

At the moment, she really wasn't.

Her visitor pushed the door open and smiled at her meekly. "Hey." Sakura looked up at him. Naruto was out of his Kage robes and carrying a heavy load. The moment she saw that conflicted look in his eyes she felt like sighing and rolling her eyes at how pathetic he seemed to be, but she had her reservations.

Of course she wasn't over his rage from the other day.

"What do you want, Naruto?" She asked, casually flipping over some papers. "Can't you see I'm busy?" Sakura then questioned, staring at him. Naruto blinked a few times at the content in her hands. She averted her gaze to the colorful flyer in her hand, before slightly faltering.

"Busy with… food things." Sakura tried to deflect, unsuccessfully.

"Right…" Naruto said, standing in front of her desk. "Well, I brought you flowers." He shrugged. In his hands he held a giant bouquet of cherry blossoms and a big white bag.

Sakura glared. "You hate flowers." She stated suspiciously, before he rolled his eyes.

"Ino told me to give these to you." He threw the pink bunch onto her desk.

"This, however, is my present and apology for the way I acted." He placed the bag besides the flowers. A familiarly sweet scent stirred her senses as she softened and shifted in surprise.

" _Anmitsu_?" She beamed like a little child.

"Yes." He said, sitting down in the chair opposite of hers as she dug through the bag, taking out the boxes of sweet jelly.

"I stood up the Old Council for this, but they can suck it for all I care… the only thing they do is make complains." He snickered as Sakura dug into her first portion.

"You only give them reasons to complain." She said in between bites.

Naruto shook his head. "They want in on way too much information."

Sakura chuckled. "Don't we all?"

Naruto sighed, glancing at the old picture of Team 7 on her desk, peeking from in between piles of paperwork. "So…" He started, patting the comfortable seat he was in. "How many people found out they were gonna die here?" The blond asked as Sakura wiped her mouth with a napkin having finished the entire serving in record speed.

"Too many to keep count." She said. "But those are the cleanest deaths we get around here. Most people used to die on battlefields, bleeding and bruised. Being able to get tested, walk over here, lie in bed, recover or die gracefully is a luxury. Shinobi don't usually mind that much and my department doesn't handle civilians unless we operate on them using chakra. They are too frightened by death… although, there are far worse things to handle, in my opinion. We all have our fair share of stress."

Naruto nodded in understanding. "It's tough." He said.

"It is." Sakura agreed. "So, I hope you understand that you're not the only one with problems around here." She said, rather coldly for someone of her temperament.

Naruto bowed his head. "Yeah, I know… I'm sorry I yelled at you." He murmured.

"I'm sorry I was inconsiderate." Sakura apologized.

"It's okay." Naruto sighed. "We're okay…" He said.

"I went to look for Hinata during lunch break so that I could deliver the test results, but she seems to have gone already." She noted. At the mention of the girl's name, Naruto reached to open a serving of anmitsu.

"She's rarely around anyways. That way may be better for now." He shrugged before taking a bite.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'for now'?" She questioned.

"Hinata went into shock during her meditation." He said before eating another spoonful. "Kakashi found her seizing." Sakura's eyes widened as she listened. Naruto's stance was limp in the seat as his gaze wandered from the girl to his anmitsu and other random places in the room. He was exhausted by everything.

"The only thing I know is that it wasn't the first time, but certainly was the most dramatic episode she's ever had. They called me in, and I saw her laying in an ice bath in the middle of Kakashi's department. She was freezing, unconscious and… dreaming." He uttered. As he'd been haunted by images of her shivering frame, he hadn't really given himself time to think about the situation.

The Hokage knew that he would only reflect properly if forced, and Sakura was thorough and obnoxious enough to encourage him to do so.

She was also one of the few people who understood his situation.

"They put her in an ice bath to numb her senses so that the Byakugan could subtract..?" She guessed, ponderously.

"I know as much about it as you do. I just know that she looked like she was suffering and there was nothing I could do about it. Kakashi wouldn't address the situation in detail; he had more important things to say. I couldn't even touch her." Naruto noted, wistfully.

Sakura shook her head. "He wouldn't explain the seizure thoroughly because he probably knew I would be able to get a vaguely accurate picture of what happened and would, potentially, discover something about Hinata's eyes. I get it." She heaved.

"And he knew that I would come running to you at some point…" Naruto rolled his shoulders. "You're the only person in this circle who's just as ignorant as I am. And the villagers think that I just know it all…"

Sakura nodded slowly. "To be honest, the tension this phenomenon is creating is astounding. There are millions of people who live in this land and only a few dozen persons know about her eyes. Then, there are those who actually have a vague idea of what they do, and that falls back to a dozen in the Land of Fire. The Kages know and some of their most trusted personnel, agents of their separate Black Ops get the notion only when necessary if they ought to collaborate with her on the mission. A relatively small number of friends and colleagues, all carrying your Seal of Confidence, are involved with her directly, yet everybody's getting tangled in this web and struggling to move around in it. It's suffocating, it' becoming hard to breathe because everything seems to be a domino effect. I don't know what the two of you plan on doing, but as I've said before, it's not heading anywhere good. Hyuuga Hinata really is bad news at this point. Her personality may not have changed that much. She's still calm and collected; an easy blusher but a sturdy character nevertheless. It's her perspective that's changed. She's become a public secret, Naruto."

"Sort of like Sasuke had been, huh." He murmured.

Sakura faltered as her gaze fell, filling with beds of tears that weighted on her waterline. "Now that you put it that way…"

The Hokage leaned back. "That's not how we were supposed to be. During those times when we weren't apart, we would be physically closer than ever. I would hold her for hours on end and kiss her eyelids before she went."

Naruto's ocean blue orbs were reflecting deep turmoil and Sakura waited through his pause. He put the empty box of anmitsu on the desk. "Then, when I saw her in that tub, I thought… 'I am her lover, so why is another person holding her through this? I am her best friend, so why does somebody else understand her better than I do? I used to be her confidant, so why does she trust others more than she trusts me?' Suddenly all these people are part of her life that doesn't seem to have a place for me anymore."

He bit his lip and Sakura's eyes burned. "Her lover… I don't have to be. But I still want to be the one holding her when times are hard and remain her best friend and confidant. I need to keep myself occupied for a while, now that I understand how selfish I've been." He scratched the bridge of his nose. "Either way, I need her in my life."

Then she started crying. "You're an idiot." Sakura yelled. "You're a moron for letting people walk all over! What kind of Hokage are you?!"

"Yes! I am an idiot and a fool and I don't know how I'm supposed to protect an entire nation if I can't control what happens to the one person I love the most in this world!" He shouted with a pained look in his eyes.

Sakura was stunned, as her jaw shook.

"How am I supposed to be the leader of this village and still have so many visible secrets hidden from me? What am I worth, at the end of the day, if I couldn't keep Hinata? I lost her love, but I also seem to have lost her trust, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

Sakura fell silent as she wrapped her mind around his words. It all made sense, but there was too much they didn't know to be able to judge.

"I don't know, Naruto…We stress now, but…" She blinked. "Will it all be worth it, at the end of the day?"

The following hour felt like a dozen as difficult conversations proceeded and numerous topics continued to be discussed. The two friends hadn't spoken so genuinely in a long time. Naruto had drowned his third bottle of sake which he found in Sakura's conveniently hidden mini-fridge.

He chuckled as the last of the liquid trailed down his throat. "Ah…" He sighed in content; although the medic was docilely avoiding alcohol consumption due to her inwardly fear of becoming any more similar to her teacher. She had other vices.

"What do you plan on doing with him when he comes back?" Sakura then asked. Her visage was almost sorrowful and as Naruto's cheeks became tinted with pink, courtesy of the rice wine, he softened.

"I… I don't know." He stuttered.

A pained laugh escaped the girl's lips. "Please don't lie to me." She pleaded. "I know you want to protect me, but please stop lying to me. I can take care of myself. Hinata does the same thing with you and look where your relationship ended up. Our friendship is far too precious to me to let it suffer any more than it already has."

She paused, catching his eye attentively. "He's gone for four years and you suddenly want him back. If it weren't an urgent matter, you wouldn't have insisted on him being found as soon as possible. You would've kept Hinata around for longer, but I suppose I'm right to say that there isn't much time to waste. Conclusively, it seems as if you need to have him back for a briefing about something that has occurred recently, something he may or may not have countered during his travel. My guess is that it could be about the person from the Mist; Iwa and Kiri's secret alliance; national security. I read Shikamaru's mission report. If Sasuke confirms that Akira Suizen is a threat, then you'd need to take action. If she turns out to be harmless, you would turn a blind eye to the situation as long as it doesn't become harmful to the environment."

Sakura leaned back in her seat and Naruto listened to her in awe. He'd forgotten just how observant his friend was. Oftentimes, he shrugged her advice and warnings off because he always seemed to neglect the fact that she was highly intelligent and cared for everything that was going on. Even though the hospital was her priority, she couldn't help but keep an ear out.

"Depending on the briefing, things could head in two directions, although for me there isn't much of a difference." She turned serious as she poured herself a glass of rice wine. "Sasuke can't kill her without your consent. If he does anything remotely illegal, he's going to be executed – he signed a guarantee in exchange for his freedom spent in serving the country, and you. Then, Iwa and Kiri would find out about your suspicions and you would have to address them. If they realize that you sent a spy to infiltrate their ranks, while old man Onoki could potentially let it slide and come clean, Mei would go ballistic. Either way, the peace treaty would become invalid even if you come to terms. It is difficult to renew a contract like that one, especially if some parties are already regretting conditions they agreed to only a few years after signing."

Naruto rubbed his eyes. "I had though being Hokage was an honest business…" He murmured. "I had thought that with this title I could protect the nation and its people… but by the looks of it, I am just the tip of the needle. There are dozens of people telling me what to do and thousands of things I still don't know… The ANBU is supposed to be a selection of the Hokage's most loyal warriors, but then even their affiliations became compromised. So shortly after I became coroneted, we came up with this idea of placing Seals of Confidence on people who have their nation's leader's absolute trust without having to be in the ANBU. All adorned with it could also have access to unlimited knowledge."

He stood up, started pacing around the room as he spoke in recollection. "Sai designed them and we had a summit during which all Kages agreed to the suggestion of adopting the same concept. I came back to Konoha and was so excited about reforming the system, emphasizing and rewarding the best of our ninja, until I actually sat down and didn't make it past half the page. I realized how in midst of thousands of citizens, I could only trust a number of my closest friends and allies. Later, it occurred to me that if a shinobi has the Raikage's seal, they must share the same ideologies. The person who shares the same ideologies as the Raikage must wish to have the Byakugan and even though A might, I can't trust a person who wishes to hurt Hinata. Our interests may have been the same in the past, but now, we don't have a mutual enemy as a distraction."

Sakura nodded, letting the words sink in. Naruto felt powerless – she knew it from the moment he came to her and told her about his, allegedly, former lover's optical mutation. She started drifting away and the position of being the Hokage was shockingly not what he had expected. Konoha was in a difficult political situation – Naruto wanted in on it for the recognition, but he was useless. He wasn't as good of a diplomat as Gaara, he wasn't as experienced as Onoki and he wasn't as revolutionary as Mei.

"Come to think of it…" Naruto started. "Iwa and Kiri hated each other the most, throughout history. Maybe an alliance was exactly what they needed. Who are we to judge?" He sighed.

Sakura pulled up the sleeves of her white coat before pouring herself another cup and drinking it. She exhaled as the bitterness struck her senses and she was well reminded that Naruto had drowned three or four bottles and was still quite sober.

She ran a hand through her hair, coming up with a response to his elaboration. "The peace has been wavering. Ever since the Byakugan evolved, the Hidden Cloud has been particularly ambiguous and passive-aggressive. The Mizukage obviously has her fair share of secrets with the Tsuchikage and the only strong bond we politically have is the one we share with Suna. When Sasuke comes, make sure you play your cards right. We need a strong leader. I don't know and you don't know what exactly Hinata's been through, we don't know just how damaged she is, but I've come to the conclusion that we should most certainly let her go. I still have my suspicions. Still, Ino would tell somebody if she were harmful to anybody, and maybe the reason why she trusts Kakashi so much is because he understands what she's going through…"

Their eyes met and a nauseous gust swept through the atmosphere. "And we know Kakashi's seen a lot of bad shit."

* * *

 _Cool night air stirred the white curtains of her open window. The distinctive dry scent of sand traveled with the currents, streaming all about Suna. The Summit had ended and the village was sound asleep – Hyuuga Hinata, on the other hand, couldn't bring herself to doze off._

 _"She's just scared."_

 _Came a voice in the middle of the night. Suddenly, she was frozen in a fetal position as her eyes fluttered open. She hadn't heard anyone approach or enter her room in spite of having been wide awake. Taking a moment to process the situation, she slowly pushed herself up to sit. In front of her bed, she could make out a lean silhouette of a man standing still. His figure barely moved as he breathed and the darkness was too present to determine, but Hinata recognized him quickly enough not to panic._

 _Why was he here?_

 _She gulped, hand slowly trailing over the lustrous texture of her mattress until her fingers sought out the switch of a small lamp, a contraption with a very limited power capacity. The bulb from inside blinked a couple of times unevenly as Hinata's eyes didn't leave her visitor's, before the weak, yet consistent beam stabilized. Hinata's hands nested in her lap as she couldn't move._

 _His emerald gaze was drenched with a feeling of empathy - red hair flared in the dim lighting. He was silently observing her comely frame. She slightly leaned against the wooden headboard as the two continued to watch one another._

 _There was a beautiful woman laying alone in a king sized bed with only a modest, form-fitting, silken white sleeping gown covering her lissome form._

 _Lissome._

 _No._

 _Gaara usually didn't perceive those things._

 _Why he felt obliged to come was beyond all reason, but made all the sense in the world for one who, instead of slender arms, a gorgeous sight, a spotless neck, red cheeks and long lashes, could see cracked porcelain. He sighed. Her visage was a question in itself._

 _Why was he here? It would've been even more disrespectful had he kept the reason from her._

 _"She's just scared." Gaara repeated. Hinata blinked. The Kazekage was not a particularly tall or rugged man, yet she still felt immensely intimidated._

 _"Temari." He said. "She's just afaid."_

 _The statement did take a second to make Hinata's confusion whither. Taking a shaky breath, she gradually propped herself up on her knees. The white sheets protecting her from sight shifted and compressed, revealing the edge of her dress which hovered over her knees. Without further hesitation, the Hyuuga elegantly bowed. "Good evening, my Lord." She greeted in a small voice._

 _Gaara's arms were folded behind his back. "You may rise your head." He said. "I should apologize for coming in this late instead... although, I was right to assume that I wouldn't be disturbing your slumber."_

 _Hinata obliged as she faced him again, hair cascading down her shoulders as she tilted her head up. Her cheeks were flushed and stained with dry tears. She hid her dismay well during the day, really. Even now, at this hour, her appearance was as divine as ever, but Gaara could recognize a troubled person when he saw one. She became an open book the moment he had laid his eyes on Hyuuga Hinata the previous day, when all Kages, ambassadors, heir and proxies, body guards, ANBU and servants had arrived to Suna in order to attend the latest summit._

 _She was absent during the meeting, but he spent a good portion of it studying her meek presence as she had been seated in the hall on the other side of the door, with no doubt, able to hear everything._

 _"It is alright." She uttered. "I ought to apologize for... for..."_

 _"Your modesty?" Gaara finished her question demurely. "Don't worry burden yourself with such worries, Lady Hyuuga. The reason why I've come tonight does not have an obligatory dress code." He smiled weakly and Hinata couldn't help but realize how unassuming the Kazekage appeared to be. His demeanor was the same collected, polite yet oddly becoming one he normally had whilst talking to people on the streets. Now, she simply didn't feel like there was an uninvited, strange and potentially dangerous man she barely knew in her private chambers._

 _There were just two people and an ambiguous and clumsy exchange in the making._

 _"W-would you like to sit down?" She questioned instinctively, becoming aware of the fact that she had no chairs to offer._

 _Gaara noticed the moment the message was conveyed and there was a pleasant tug at his lip. "No, thank you." He politely declined and the girl failed to suppress the relief which reflected on her mug._

 _"I'm surprised that Naruto isn't with you." Gaara then made his observation aloud as his black-rimmed eyes continued to peer at the girl as if he were talking to a child, even though the messages he would be trying to convey were so complex that most people, thankfully, never had to deal with them._

 _Hinata laced her fingers together. "He was... busy."_

 _"Did you not want him to come?" He asked, immediately, raspy voice eerily echoing the room. Hinata's breathing was heavy as she stared at her companion._

 _"No." She confessed in a quiet voice, utterly bewildered by Gaara's knowing of her situation._

 _Kakashi was the only one whom she had told this request of hers. She knew that Naruto never spoke of their issues to his closest friends, nevertheless Gaara, the conservative politician whom her boyfriend met up with every few weeks at best._

 _"I came here to tell you one thing." He started, again. "I said that 'she's just scared'. Temari is just scared and today... well, since it's past midnight, it should be... yesterday, when she opposed your freedom and rights irrationally, she wasn't fighting you or your Byakugan. She was fighting her trauma, the me and my past." Gaara then put his knees to the edge of the king sized bed and mimicked Hinata's position on it, while resting his palms over his thighs._

 _Hinata was slightly taken aback by the sudden movement, but the grace with which the Kazekage managed to kneel on a soft mattress as if it were a tatami mat, truly made her nostalgic for a moment. He had a nearly Hyuuga-like elegance about his stance, although less rigid and cold and more delightfully clumsy. Then she stopped to wonder when the last time she'd spoken to her father was._

* * *

"I gave you time, Kakashi." Naruto's voice echoed the dimly lit interrogation room in the ANBU's private headquarters. The figure of one Yamanaka Ino was draped in the darkness of one of the dome's corners as she witnessed the interaction, being almost entirely forgotten. Kakashi could detect her lover's chakra signature on the other side of the bulky door.

The silver haired man's eyes never left his student's obsidian blue orbs which were filled with a seriousness of intensity he had rarely displayed before. In the shadows, his white cloak appeared to be gray and the strands of fire at its edges, more furious than ever.

It was still dark outside, although in the sealed interior, nobody could really tell. The interrogation had to happen at a small hour when the HQ was the least crowded. It ought to be secretive. Naruto had just come back from his visit to Sakura after which he'd felt surprisingly enlightened. Still, in this giant hall, illuminated only by candlelight and struggling to create an illusion of power in between himself and his master, fresh anxiety bottled in the back of his mind.

Kakashi was seated on a cold, solid body of stone with massive armrests. Being the predecessor of the blond and a worshiped member of the ANBU, Naruto had taken the 'privilege' of being the one to interrogate him in a more humane environment.

"I gave you a lot of time, and now you have to talk to me." He said. "Hinata woke up, healed, went away. You personally got to inform Unit B about their mission to Suna, and in a few days, they'll be gone too. Sasuke should arrive in a week or so and I need to have my facts straight before he briefs me. I've respected your every decision to keep me out of the know on many things, but this is my business and you won't withhold any information from me. Are we clear?" Naruto asked, voice firm but lacking a genuine determination. To an outsider, this minor detail might've gone unnoticed, but Kakashi could see how obliged yet uncomfortable the Uzumaki felt ordering him around.

He merely nodded, painfully aware of the fact that he couldn't lie to Naruto – not with Yamanaka Ino, the student of Ibiki and daughter of Inoichi, watching his every move. She would even notice his hesitance and know when he chose not to share something. How did she do it? He'd seen her work dozens of times, merely observing and trying to figure out her methods. Ino had dismissed Naruto's order to have his mask removed. " _It wouldn't make a difference._ " She had said with a nonchalant wave of the hand before melting away in her corner.

"I swear to speak the truth and nothing but the truth, in the name of the Hidden Leaf." Kakashi said, coolly, trying to relax in the stone seat before finally asking. "Where do we begin?"

Naruto's eyes gleamed.

"What is Akira Suizen?"

* * *

It was four in the morning. Darkness lingered outside of her window and Sakura breathed quietly with her eyes closed as she followed the distant vibration of Naruto's footsteps as he left the hospital premises. He had freed her desk of leftover bottles and empty boxes of anmitsu, still containing droplets of the sweet sauce. Everything smelled like food and drinks. Sakura knew that the scent would cease in a few hours when her Shizune came to check up on her in the morning. The woman would most definitely alert the hospital cleaning staff to adjust the office while the Head of Medical Ninjutsu was out on a routine briefing with representatives of the other departments.

She only took high profile clients and the utmost difficult cases. Otherwise, she occasionally prepared lectures for the staff and people still learning medicine. She had no actual pupil and had no time to afford one. Tsunade's training was too great to be lost with her – Sakura knew that at some point she'd have to choose, but she simply felt unready. Heaving, she gripped the flatness of her stomach before stumbling out of the chair she'd been seated upon.

The Haruno walked.

She shut the sleek bathroom door behind her, and inside the cramped room, the temperature was significantly lower than in the heated office. Her emerald eyes were locked onto their reflection. She watched her body move as she shook, taking off her white coat. It collapsed onto the ground with a small thud and a clink as the metal of her pen and plastic of her ID card collided with the cold, blue ceramic tiles. Her body shook again and her hands were quickly clasped over her lips as bitterness from inside her violently ventured into her mouth. Her eyes were shut as she waited for it to withdraw.

The moment it did, Sakura's knees buckled and hit the ground as she fell. Instinctively, her pale fingers gripped onto the edges of the titanium white toilet seat as she dipper her head downwards.

She'd been holding it on for too long.

It came out like a storm.

* * *

 _Author's note:_ Tell me what you think! How did you like the chapter? Constructive critisizm is not only welcome but very much appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

" _How long?" Her shaky voice delivered the question, deftly hiding a hint of turmoil threatening to spill._

 _His dark eyes beheld the girl's small frame almost passively. Was he indifferent?_

 _No._

" _Absent until summoned." He said._

" _A year? Two years? Fifteen years?!" Sakura's tone grew in frequency as she straightened her back, frustration weighing on her slender brows. "I'm sorry if I am annoying again, now that the crisis is over and you don't need our help any longer, but give me a little credit, okay. After all I've done for you, I deserve an answer; at least put a bit more effort into that syntax, be elaborate, will you?"_

 _She yelled, visage feeble and plea drenched with desperation. Standing on the rooftop of the hospital whilst Naruto was somewhere in the building, getting his arm attached, a cool wind stirred her medium pink locks. The breeze encouraged the tears threatening to spill from her eyes._

 _Sasuke's breathing was placid, but in the bottom of his throat, something nauseating was spreading. "I am being sent on a mission." He stated._

" _What mission?" She questioned anxiously. The Uchiha really had no common sense to answer properly._

" _It requires that I travel, monitor any potential threats and keep relative track of what goes on in the Hidden villages. My first and foremost priority is eliminating criminals and illegal shinobi societies. The true purpose of my leaving ought to remain a secret; to the outside, I'll just be wandering." He said._

 _Sakura ran a hand through her tussled hair. "Why else would you go? Soul-searching?!"_

 _Sasuke nodded. "That was the initial idea." In a blur of black, he suddenly dodged, grabbing Sakura's fist in midair. She had moved faster than the wind, but he grasped her in the speed of lightning. Was she always going to be this inferior?_

" _I wouldn't do that if I were you." He whispered underneath his breath, seeing the girl's side profile curl into a saddening grimace. She jerked her hand away._

" _This is no time to joke around!" She castigated._

" _I don't joke around, Sakura." He glared._

 _Sasuke watched her pace before him. He wanted to call her name – he owed her something; a debt he couldn't ever dream of paying in its entirety. Her sacrifice was just that great._

 _Was he indifferent?_

 _No._

 _Was he never indifferent?_

 _No – but that was a long time ago._

" _Take me with you!" She suddenly asked, visage brightening as if the idea had been a totally unique discovery – eureka. Sakura stared into his eyes with the hope of having a prayer answered, like she had never made the same request and never been turned down._

" _I'm sorry."_

 _She quickly turned her back to him and walked a couple of steps away. Short strands of pink hair slid down the sides of her neck as her pale nape showed. Her head bower down for a moment. She was cold._

 _The girl gripped her sides before turning around, eyes rimmed with moisture. "What do I do now?" She uttered. "Tell me what to do!" She sobbed._

 _Sasuke knew what she wanted. Her arms were begging to be held, tears begging to be wiped, fears begging to be drowned in comfort, but he couldn't give her those things._

" _Don't wait for me." He said. His mind was buzzing as he watched her rub her eyes, leaving redness to tint her cheeks._

" _Not an option." She choked._

" _Sakura—"_

" _I said it's not an option!" Sakura's scream pained him physically, as if venom of his own making was penetrating his blood stream and tearing him up from the inside. Sasuke's lip trembled as his frown deepened._

" _You're not a part of this." He said as clearly as he could. The lean muscle, hidden by layers of clothing, and ultimately a heavy black cloak, was growing tenser by the second. He wanted to run and hide from anything that walked and talked and cared, because Sakura per say did all of those things stubbornly well._

" _You don't get to tell me that!" She bit her lip, taking a step forward. The Haruno held his gaze firmly as if daring him to look away._

" _You don't get to tell me what to do, because if it weren't for me, you'd be dead and gone right now. If it weren't for the others, you'd be well on the other side of the law right now."_

" _I owe you all so much, don't I?" Sasuke cut her short, black eyes briefly reflecting his contemplation laced with habitual cynicism. "I did a lot of bad shit in the past and you all saved me; your love brought me back from the dead and now because of my friends' sacrifice, I get to roam the great lands like a free soldier." He towered over her easily whilst edging closer. Their sights were locked, reflecting intense emotion, although ones of a striking variance between them._

" _I have no secret longing to be saved from myself anymore. Sometimes I wonder whether it would've been better for all of us if you had just let me die in the first place." He whispered. "I'm not worth your tears. I don't want them. I don't need your sympathy. I've had enough of it."_

 _She swallowed her tears, shaking her head. "No, no, no…" Sakura pleaded before burying her head in his chest and circling his waist with her arms. "No…" She whimpered, soaking the front of his heavy cloak with tears._

 _The warmth of his skin was so many layers below her touch and no matter how badly she held him, it wasn't enough to reach it._

 _He couldn't bear to look at her. His both eyes were fixated on the sunset peeking through the gate wire surrounding the edges of the rooftop. Sasuke's arm was stone cold and the other one cut off at the elbow was itching to rise. He wanted to move them, to embrace the girl with the affection that she deserved, but he couldn't._

" _Don't wait for me, Sakura." He repeated, the persistence of her hands wrapped around his torso too immense to ignore the vapor of his own convictions._

" _Don't wait for me."_

* * *

Sakura deftly slipped into her best friend's office upon being invited and shut the door behind her. She snickered in his face as she marched over and sat in front of him.

"Damn." The medic crossed her legs. "You look terrible. Thank God Hinata isn't here to see you like this, those black holes around your eyes would swallow any potential doubts she might've had about breaking up with you."

Naruto ran a hand through his messy blond hair. "She didn't officially break up with me; I'm just laying low now, for your information. I also need a trim. The last time I was this unkempt was while training with old man Jiraiya on the Turtle Island."

Sakura smiled in fond recollection. "Well, it's a good thing that you're embracing the caveman aesthetic."

"Some chicks dig that." He chuckled.

The girl twirled a strand of short pink hair about a pale digit mindlessly. "Most chicks dig _you._ It shouldn't be difficult to get back into the game, being the filthy rich, young and hot Hokage after all." She giggled in jest.

Naruto spun in his seat, rolling his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry." Sakura muttered in spite of the apparent sarcasm of her previous statement. "It's a sensitive topic. Right."

"It's fine." Naruto brushed her worry off. "No point in avoiding the obvious. I'm semi-single, but…" He dozed off.

"Not quite ready to mingle yet… I get it." She finished his train of thoughts.

"No, no you don't." Naruto leaned over his desk and pointed a scolding finger at her. "I was in an actual, mutual, long, committed, loving-turned-nerve-racking relationship. I'm a mess now, but I don't regret what I had. It was so good that I don't plan on giving up on it just yet. I'm merely taking a break. You, on the other hand, haven't done any of those things because you keep waiting for a guy who's not even worth the anticipation. I know you have suitors lining up at the hospital gates."

He paused to sigh, studying Sakura's bemused expression.

"What I'm trying to say is that I understand how overwhelming your feelings are. When you told me that Hinata was bad news, that I should end it, I was furious because I've invested everything into my loving her. The difference between your situation and my situation is that we had something real whilst Sasuke is… undependable. He's unpredictable and until he fixes himself, you deserve better. I suggest you try to make things work with someone else. You deserve so much love and you're not letting anybody give it to you. Frankly, I'm not sure whether Sasuke ever will be ready for that kind of commitment."

Sakura's gaze was focused on an empty space on Naruto's desk as her arms were crossed.

"Sorry…" He chuckled. "When are you leaving?"

"Tonight." She said anxiously, rubbing her palms together. "I don't know how I feel about this. Shizune attends most of my meetings abroad; I haven't been away from the hospital for more than a few days in years. Ino will take good care of it, I don't doubt it for a second, but the thought of abandoning it is…"

"Normal." Naruto stood up, slowly dusting off his coat and sorting the paperwork neatly on the side. "It's normal to be freaked out about leaving. Once you've been a part of something big for a while like that, you feel like once you budge further away, it'll fall apart. Take my advice – it won't fall apart."

Sakura nodded at his words as she too rose to her feet. "Where are we going now?" She pondered as she watched her best friend drift about his desk, towards the door of his office.

"I am taking you to one of ANBU's more… remote offices.", said Naruto.

Her eyes widened as she impulsively grabbed his sleeve. He raised an eyebrow at her baffled expression. "Naruto, I can't. That's… that's ANBU."

"Come on, you've got the seal. You are authorized to accompany me there."

"Oh, but I'd rather not." She mumbled.

Naruto tried not to laugh as he unwrapped her digits from around the edge of his silken white sleeve. "There's no reason to be petrified, Sakura, you've seen far scarier things than a… military masquerade."

"I can't tell whether I know them or not! And I really don't like the concept of secret underground societies. Why would we need to go there anyways?" She questioned.

Naruto scratched his forehead. "Sakura…" He started. "You need to come with me because it's about the mission."

"Oh." Her expression grew more aware as she processed. "That's right; you didn't really tell us why we'd be going there."

"No." Naruto shook his head. "It's something only you should know."

They stood for another moment. Sakura turned over her shoulder to glance at the tranquil landscape of the Hidden Leaf village, taking in the way golden sunrays bathed the houses and the trees. Civilians strolled up and down the narrow streets and appeared to be so small when observed from a height. Those people didn't know how vulnerable their peace was.

Sakura heaved before facing the blond.

"You are our supreme leader." She said. "Lead the way."

Suddenly, her friend's bandaged hand appeared in her line of sight and collided with the side of her neck. Before she could feel the pain of collision, everything went black.

* * *

A labyrinth of tall grass unraveled before them as they walked, saturated by the shadows cast by lissome bodies of bamboo. Their feet touched the ground for the first time in a long while as they'd spent the past four days making their way through the deciduous greenery surrounding the borders between the great lands of Grass and Fire, jumping from branch to branch.

Shikamaru's breathing was steady yet heavy, and from time to time, Hinata could only glance from the side at his troubled countenance. There was nothing she could do to fix his mood. Out in the open and away from home, she felt most herself these days, whilst he was being gradually torn apart by the distance.

The young Nara Shikamaru imbedded in her memory was a disinterested, mooning scrawny kid who shadowed Ino and Choji at most times, if not cloud-gazing on the Academy roof. Few would've guessed that he would be the first to settle, embody the essence of fatherhood in a nuclear family he decided to build with the princess of sand herself.

Nevertheless, Hinata couldn't escape the feeling that she was a stranger to them precisely because they had witnessed the ruining of the person she once used to be. People she had grown up with were observing her from a distance with enquiry gleaming from their eyes as if she were a walking question mark that lacked a sentence to conclude. A thought stretching from mind to mind, a rumor traveling from ear to ear – Hyuuga Hinata was many things. None of which she understood herself.

She averted her gaze to straight ahead and continued to pace forward with subtlety, breathing in the smell of nature stirred by drying rain drops. The hood of her ashen cloak was heavy on her shoulders. Its edges lingered over the tender ground which soaked the atmosphere with the opiating scent of petrichor. Had she been alone, Hinata would've lost track of time long ago. Shikamaru's agitated sighs and thumps were like the ticks of a broken clock which constantly reminded her of his growing pains.

The Nara had a harder time crossing the terrain. There was mud sticking to his boots and from the corner of her eye, Hinata noted that he looked entirely out of place in the wilderness.

"I have a suggestion… to make." She broke the silence sheepishly, not meeting her comrade's gaze as he silently made a request of elaboration.

"What?" Shikamaru cleared his throat after she had decided to initiate conversation like a mere handful of times before.

Hinata licked her frigid lips before speaking. "The density of the forest is starting to decrease. In an hour, we should be near the border. There are places where we can rest before taking off tomorrow morning."

Shikamaru heaved a pensive sigh, one not unlike many of which the girl had witnessed throughout the course of their journey. "Not an option. This is a covert op, you know that." He dismissed her appeal, although she was quick to respond.

"I understand it is imperative that the mission stays under the other governments' radars, and I did not mean to propose breaking our cover." Hinata said vaguely.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "What did you mean then?" He pondered, tilting his body to the side and slipping between two hollow stems starred by cold droplets of dew which rolled down and piled at the nodes.

"Dosho is under Konoha's rule. They don't report to other authorities." She watched as Shikamaru's eyes cleared in realization.

"I totally forgot about that." Those words were uttered underneath his breath with a worrisome undertone which Hinata decided to steer clear of. There was a thought which crossed both their minds, yet didn't need to be acknowledged.

"The governing Nishimori clan is an extension of mine; many members of the Hyuuga are stationed there on business or live in Dosho as their ancestors served as protection for the civilians during the first war. My Byakugan won't stand out." She stated reassuringly.

Hyuuga were a very common sight to behold in the town, unlike in other places. The pallid violet of her eyes was one of the primary reasons as to why she always did her work behind the scenes. People like the Nara who had no distinctive physical features easily blended in with larger crowds and excelled at espionage. Nonetheless, it was a mentally draining line of duty. Shikamaru had it written all over his face. The fatigue and resistance against the foreign were brewing from deep within him and Hinata wanted to give him at least a shadow of comfort.

"Nishimori… I forgot that they were related to you." He mused over the tip of his collar as he recalled the endless hours of dwelling over the maps which somehow seemed to have drifted from his mind.

"Distantly." Hinata nodded. "It is believed that their dojutsu derives from the Byakugan. You probably didn't hear much about the _Shizenkan_ considering it has no combative or destructive capacities unlike the three great eye techniques. Dosho is a town primarily consisting of the Nishimori clan members and it centers its economy on agricultural profit. The wielder of this dojutsu is able to perceive chakra, but only on a cellular level. The people there aren't trained as ninja for their eyes wouldn't benefit them in battle, but they use their abilities to cultivate top-tier herbs, medicinal plants, biofuel and such. Their fields and herbariums are scattered around the city premises, but they sell their products in major cities." The information slid past her lips immaculately. As it did, Shikamaru couldn't help but see some of Hyuuga Hiashi behind her wandering eyes.

"Dosho it is, then." He nodded before the pair slipped into a state of another comfortable silence.

Shikamaru was heir to a clan of no sizable wealth, but great importance to the village's military. The formidable Nara mind was essential to the inner workings of the Hidden Leaf and its brilliance was simultaneously highly regarded and envied by many. Shikamaru was taught the ways of the dauntingly powerful clans. In their circles, the Nara played a role of the ultimate underdog who had the greatest leverage right behind his eyes. That is why their position in Konoha's monopoly differed so much from the others'.

Ever since taking over as the Head of his clan, Shikamaru had had the opportunity to once a month sit in a room with some of the most powerful men and women of the ages. Amongst them was Hyuuga Hiashi who always sat at the Kage's right, clad in his immaculate silken robes, dark hair cascading down a lean back embedded with scars of legend, eyes stern and frown carrying the weight of his ghostly and principal demeanor. Even though the leader of the village was infamously his daughters tormented lover, Hiashi had never treated Naruto any differently than he treated the others before him – in the same elegant monotone, with the same disinterest and dose of deprecation. He had no visible flaw, only an air of anguish which may had been swaying his conscience, but not his posture.

Ever since the word spread of his daughter's condition amongst Konoha's elite, all eyes were on him, prying for a reaction, a lapse, a sign that something was going on, yet he never wavered. Hiashi was just as stern and unyielding as he had ever been. It sent chills up Shikamaru's spine.

They had never discussed it at meetings. Only the Akimichi were hasty enough to request information about the new Byakugan and the glances old man Choza had received were unparalleled in panic. The Head Hyuuga had dismissed their plea in his signature humorless manner, yet there was something in his voice which made the present listeners' blood freeze.

How much did he care? Only God knew, and Shikamaru was set on not wasting his efforts on going down that path.

Hinata appeared just as tender and sweet as she used to be some years ago, yet he couldn't help but notice that there was something somber woven through her whole person. There she walked soundlessly, lids dreary over her eyes, mind haunted by nameless and faceless demons. The Hyuuga didn't seem to be affected by their surroundings in the slightest. Her holding was as unperturbed as it had been once they'd stepped out the Konoha gates.

Back in the Academy, she was the girl who uttered through her tears that she was not cut out to be a ninja. In some way, he'd admired that courage. It took him years to stomach the fact that he felt no satisfaction in doing the things he had been taught to do – kill, deceive, and conspire. He wanted to ask her whether that had really changed; whether she'd really learned to relish the thrill or was there something else that kept her going.

Shikamaru needed some relief. He dreaded stepping over the mud which threatened to envelop his feet, the moisture which filled his nostrils and the throbbing ache inside his gut. He wanted a bed, a shower, his woman at his side, a desk waiting for him in the morning, the scented wood of his ancient shogi set and the unkempt garden behind his family home.

Six months he'd spent in the Hidden Mist lurking around corners, spying on some of the most powerful shinobi in the universe, on multiple occasions having his life hanging by a thread, carrying the weight of over half a dozen countries, chasing shadows and knowing that there was a child growing in the womb of his beloved who was alone somewhere, staring at the dunes, counting sand storms by day and days by night.

He was not a child anymore. Children had time to waste. Shikamaru's thoughts were drifting from place to place until his mind was so engaged that his body grew numb.

As the hour passed and bamboo trees slipped from his peripheral vision, he saw the endless flatland of various colors, separated into neat rectangles like patches on a fabric, surrounding a town barely visible from their point of view. Small cottages rose from the meadows, scattered unevenly and they presumed they served the purpose of hosting gardening equipment.

"Dosho it is, then." He whispered mostly to himself as he heaved another sigh and ran a hand down his weary countenance. The sun had nearly set on the horizon. Whilst he and Hinata made their way down a neat pathway, both of them grew watchful of the eerily empty meadows as the scent of Nishimori herbs enveloped their senses.

"It looks like only the town center is isolated from the outside… Those parts there…" He pointed to the distant figures. "…don't have walls for borders because they need proximity and... access to the fields." Shikamaru murmured as they walked over the gravel path, nearing the city with every step. At this point he could clearly make out the town in the distance, its peak being the Nishimori pagoda which towered over the houses and smaller manors Dosho was consisting of, scattered on the flatlands artfully and circled by a tall border. The web of parcels was lined by torches that lit their way just enough to make the crossing affluent.

"The wall is there, but it isn't heavily guarded. They don't see the danger lurking on the outside…" Hinata whispered though the night. Her companion grew silent for a moment, thoughtfully eyeing the buildings rising in the distance.

"They have peaceful lives." She continued, softly. "Their greatest concern is meeting the seasonal quota, sending the herbs to Konoha, selling them out on the market." The breeze steered every blade of grass on those fields which danced in a tranquillizing motion through the dark. Hinata could see them much clearly than the Nara, yet he was too somewhat soothed by the change of terrain. Nothing was clouding their view of the sky. The moon was nearly full and pale on the dome of stars above.

"I fought a war in the front lines…" Words escaped her lips one by one. "I lost my best friend on the battlefield … I wielded the powers of the dead, dug my sister's eyes out of a man's skull. I fell in love, killed thirteen people in a heartbeat. We have scars … They have stories."

The words encircled Shikamaru's thoughts and horded them into a corner. "No matter what we're taught, at some point we look back and realize all that we would give to have their life. I don't… want to be here." The Nara spoke as if uttering those words were a crime. Yet, he was beneath the open sky alongside a woman who embodied the essence of lenient secrecy and there was nobody else to hear his dispute.

"Temari talks about it a lot – what our lives could've been like had we not been born to this way of living. I don't usually think much of it. It's pointless to cry over spilled milk. Still, it would've been nice to have a proper first date - a proper 'what's your favorite color' kind of conversation. We are building a life, knee deep in a pool of dried blood. Our friends and families died to win this peace, but we can't embrace it entirely because everybody's still scared. These regrets that we are fostering are rooted in selfish notions. We ought to be grateful for their sacrifice, no matter how hard that may be. Pondering over how things might've been is a futile attempt to drown our demons, but they aren't going anywhere. What we have to do now is make sure that we are the last generation mourning."

"It's odd." Hinata said. "We were sixteen when the war broke out. I can barely remember how we did it… Members of my clan and I, we are all short ranged. I stood there with Neji at my side but when battle began, I couldn't see him anymore." Her voice grew thin and Shikamaru realized that this was the first time he'd ever heard her mention the loss of her cousin. She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "It was tough… But you're moving on. Bringing new life into the world you bettered."

"Don't you want the same thing?" Shikamaru enquired warily and Hinata's expression sunk ever so slightly. "We're all in this. Looking around, you see it's plain as day. We're all rushing to settle, relish the peace and hold onto it as if another war is just around the corner. Only when the high wears off did we realize what we've all been through and the big picture is a lot uglier than what it felt like at the time of its creation. We're building homes outside the trenches. Honestly, if it weren't for that I think we would've gone mad by now."

She tilted her head downwards as she responded in a serene tone underlined by anguish which only one who knew her story would understand. "I've seen many things over the years, Shikamaru. The big picture is still not one of them."

* * *

Her eyes fluttered open and immediately upon regaining consciousness, a violent urge washed over her. She sat up, alert and watchful of the vacant, gloomy room and the uncomfortable round mattress she woke up in. Suddenly, she remembered the unforeseen attack in the Hokage's office.

"Oh, no, he didn't…" Sakura snarled, running a hand through her hair. The scent of wax and paper wove through the stuffy atmosphere. Looking around, she noticed the absence of windows. The air inside was somewhat dry and stale. "Dumping me here like a sack of potatoes… Inhale, exhale… Inhale, exhale…" She seethed.

Moments passed with only the sound of her breathing echoing the room. Once she became the chief supervisor of a vast hospital division, Sakura had started working on her anger issues. There was no need to murder anybody – or so she told herself.

"Alright…" The medic heaved, straightening her hair and tapping down the white comforter covering her from waist down. Her chest puffed and air streamed into her lungs as she was about to call out to her friend, but a clatter of the door knob on the opposite side.

Her eyes widened as they were cracked open and a masked figure slipped into the room. Her breath hitched – the man's porcelain façade resembled a wolf with ominous dark circles for eyes framed by shoulder-long, unruly coal black hair. On the side of his standard grey ANBU flak jacket, the pallid skin of his lean arms was adorned by a red tattoo, symbolizing his position in the ranks of the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad.

Once his entire frame appeared in front of her, she was reminded to breathe.

 _Sa_ —

"My Lady…" He bowed elegantly. At the sound of his voice, Sakura winced. It was a raspy tenor, cold and attentive like the autumn breeze.

 _It's_ _not_ _him_.

Sakura hadn't realized that tears had started to gather at the corners of her eyes. Her heart was beating rapidly and unevenly. That irrational, inwardly question seemed to have drained her of strength for a moment when she let out a shaky breath and collapsed her back onto the bed.

"My Lady, are you feeling alright?" The man repeated himself frigidly. "Lord Hokage is waiting for you outside, these measures were necessary for the location of this secret base must remain—"

This was why she hated them.

The Haruno swiftly rose from bed and dusted off her white coat before brushing past the eerie stranger. He said nothing nor moved once she pushed the door open with unnecessary force and stumbled into the hallway.

She was greeted by a dim and seemingly endless corridor. Quickly, she dashed down, her fear of enclosed spaces eating at her nerves whilst counting the candles evenly distributed against the clay and soil crafted walls.

"Naruto…" She panted, the cold air burning her cheeks which were flushed with repressed anguish. "Naruto!" There were heavy doors on all sides yet no sign of life.

"Woah!" The man's figure appeared from around the corner and a pair of hands suddenly landed at her shoulders, blocking her path. She looked up to see his face before feebly smacking the tall blond on the side of his head.

"Where the hell am I? Why did you knock me unconscious? Who is that guy?! What's your problem?!" She pointed at his chest formidably, resolute and upset.

"I'm sorry, I know that you want little to do with this kind of thing so I thought it'd best to knock you out, but if I had told you that I was going to do it, you wouldn't have responded well, I mean you would've instinctively dodged or something, I don't know—Sakura, no. Sakura, stop poking me." He took both her fists into his hands and she struggled before finally glaring up at him.

"Of course I would've dodged! Who wants to be knocked out? Are you really that stupid?" She howled as Naruto tried to shush her with a sheepish smile. "Sakura, we're still at the HQ… please, calm down. My employees are watching."

"I'm not gonna calm down, you dim-wit! You knocked me out! They should know their leader is a _moron_!" She raised her head and yelled out the last word as if she were looking for everyone to hear it.

"Sakura!" He shook her forcibly by the shoulders and she suddenly shut up with a baffled expression on her face. The man who had followed her was accompanied by another pair of masked shinobi who had followed Naruto out of the room.

"Good, now listen to me. I left that guy there to guide you once you woke up." He said, brow puckered and countenance reading utter bemusement.

"Who is he?" She demanded to know.

"He is an ANBU soldier and a very trustworthy one. I know all of my people here, Sakura, there's no need to be worried. I just need you here in order to brief you about what you may encounter on this case. Your expertise is absolutely essential to the outcome of this operation and I need your complete focus on it."

For a moment she eyed him warily before her lips curled into a knowing grin. "Props to Hyuuga for molting you a silver tongue. Tell me again, did you know how to read before you met her or am I just—?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're very funny." Naruto looked down at his friend as she continued to giggle at her own witty remark. The pair started moving down the corridor. "You do know that I'm still wounded, right? I'm not ready for you to make fun of my pain. I'm telling you, this is not a permanent settlement, I'm just giving her a little bit of space. Hinata and I are soul mates, we'll make it work."

Sakura was slightly taken aback by the optimism in his tone. Her eyes searched his face for any trace of wistful humor, but the sincerity in his eyes made her chest tighten. She was at a loss of words and Naruto would have noticed had it not been for a fourth masked soldier who came to his arm.

"My Lord, the laboratory is prepped and readied for Lady Haruno to take over now." She stated yet her words were slightly muted by the presence of the porcelain hiding her features. The woman was lean and muscular. As Naruto mindlessly gave his thanks for the update, Sakura looked over her shoulder to watch while the ANBU went down the hallway and slipped into the darkness.

That was the body of a warrior and she flaunted it proudly along with a staggering scar at the base of her spine stretching to her opposite shoulder.

"Who was that?" She asked purely out of curiosity as she turned back. It certainly must've been a nasty cut. Judging by the coloration and the brief moment she'd had to look at it, the Haruno presumed that it must've been a couple of years old already.

"Kuni."

Sakura shot him a look. "What? Is that a real name, Naruto?"

"Yes, it may be." He made a face whilst glancing to the side.

"You don't know who that was, do you?" His friend heaved.

"No, I don't." He said.

Sakura continued to stare at him sympathetically. "So much for knowing your own people. Let's just go."

The pair continued to chatter lightly as they strolled towards the exit of the corridor. Naruto had spoken out on his fair share of problems, yet for some reason, Sakura withheld things from him. Several years back, he would've demanded absolute disclosure. Several years back, he hadn't understood the concept of personal space.

Then, he had been alone and the sole purpose of his being was to mend the lives of others the way nobody had been able to mend his. With the Hyuuga girl he had a bond unlike any other – something that they hadn't shared with anybody else but one another. She'd chosen him to fill that void and it was a granted privilege whose profound significance nobody would ever understand well enough to judge. That had been the first step to his becoming rounded. Second came the job when his entire person was placed at the disposal of an army of citizens who all deserved his equal support and attention. Naruto had to learn to be the man whom they could rely on. He still was learning, in a way.

The two members of the legendary Team 7 had been spending far less time together than they used to, but one had to be either deaf or blind in order to oversee the emotional rollercoaster Sakura seemed to be on. Most of the time she was working, but during those brief moments of solitude or genuine conversations her vulnerabilities resurfaced. Naruto watched her as she spoke lightheartedly, yet he couldn't help but notice how her every laugh sounded brittle to the ear.

"Here we go." The Hokage rubbed his palms together as the tunnel came to an end. Light briefly blurred their vision, but after a few steps, Sakura was standing on top of a long and wide, cross shaped platform made out of sleek, dark wood. People moved like shadows slipping left and right, yet her eyes widened as they wandered upwards. The walls stretched for what seemed to be miles of an imperial height. Terraces, doors and windows were scattered against the blocks of concrete leading to who knows where.

Her breath hitched inside her throat as she observed the distant ceiling which seemed to be made out of glass holding a body of water. The patterned streaks of the aquatic reflection saturated the underground space in hues of dark blue as it sizably disrupted the ominous vibe about it. The walls were penetrated by a web of bulky pipes, which Sakura presumed were water carriers, and stairways hanging in midair. Even on top of those, people were pacing and jumping from place to place, walking up walls and disappearing behind their wanted sets of doors.

There were over dozens of them starring the ambient above and beneath the platform which was an intersection of bridges between sides. She mindlessly walked over to the red railing and peaked to see an endless tunnel of doors, stairways and secret passages. There were several similar platforms below that she could see.

"Naruto." Sakura muttered, halfway lost in thought. "This design… I think I've seen it somewhere before." She couldn't wrap her mind around the whole situation. Even though her rational side was irked by the loss of ability to make a connection, her eyes were glowing at the sight of fish swimming far above and casting translucent shadows over them.

"I know you've seen it before." Naruto grinned at her reaction. "Original manuscripts of this place are stored with Tsunade's restricted files which you must've looked over at some point. The HQ used to belong to Danzo's Root. We renovated it, changed some of the architecture and expanded it. Like, a lot."

"This is amazing." She shook her head in disbelief whilst a baffled smile continued to grow on her features. Haruno Sakura had not been this excited in years. "Who planned it?"

"Tsunade and Kakashi thought of the concept and Yamato gathered some of our best authorized workers to realize their idea. Thanks to your mentor, even though it isn't the foremost principal department of the ANBU Black Ops, we branched it out and created a Science Division. We're still short on personnel, but Shiho is making things happen." He spoke with a glee and an air of pride about his posture.

"Shiho?" Sakura gasped at the mention of the name. "The girl with the hots for Shikamaru?"

Naruto chuckled. "That was ages ago and she's brilliant actually. Shiho is one of the best cryptologists in the world right now, we're quite lucky to have her. I don't know whether you remember, but she was the one who deciphered Jiraiya's message after Pain's attack."

The pink headed kunoichi walked a few steps forward, still mesmerized by the water's reflecting light which danced on the wooden platform. "Of course I remember, I was there when it happened… I guess I just never thought much of her after that."

"Because of Tsunade, the division has the best equipped facilities in the whole HQ. She meant for you to take over the Science Department, but eventually it became clear that you wanted nothing more to do with secretive work so… The HQ holds the weapon storages, meeting rooms, practice rooms, interrogation rooms, some cells for prisoners, dojos and covert file chambers. I could go into the specifics, but that's a story for another time." Naruto concluded.

"I agree." Sakura smiled. "Thank you for the tour, this… made my day. Now you can show me to that lab Kuni told us about and we can get down to work."

"You're not letting that go, are you?" Naruto gazed at her pleadingly, but she was relentless. "Nope."

* * *

His long, beige coat hovered over the wooden floor as he moved his feet in a gentle, circular motion repetitively as if there were a secret music playing at his ear. It was a light silence, penetrated only by the soft breathing of the child he held in his arms and even the low hum was audible just if one focused on it.

She was alive in his arms, a miracle in making, and a future he got to grasp and protect for the time being. How many hours he'd rocked her like this, he didn't know, but Mirai had been sound asleep every moment of it. Sunlight peeked through the blinds as he moved at the center of the living room, soaking the space with iridescent hues.

Shino's glasses were abandoned somewhere in the hallway. He wanted to watch her grow up in a raw atmosphere, filtered by no darkness or impurities. She was a saturated being, radiating happiness and warmth he'd never felt until the day Kurenai had first placed her in his arms.

His warm brown eyes reflected the top of the girl's dark head of hair as it lay against his shoulder.

"You'll spoil her if you continue like this." A familiar voice echoed the living room unsurprisingly. Shino had felt her presence a couple of blocks away, but hadn't expected her to come so quickly. Had he gotten so carried away by the moment? His hold on Mirai subconsciously tightened.

"Good afternoon, Sensei." The Aburame said, still not facing the woman. It was rude on his part, and he was just about to turn when something tapped against his shoulder.

It was Kurenai passing him his glasses which he gratefully took before meeting her gaze. She smiled. "You wake her up now. It's been three hours."

Shino inhaled the scent of the child's hair before caressing it with his free hand. "Doesn't she always sleep a little longer?" He asked.

"No, that's just when you're around." Kurenai explained. "Would you like some tea?" She asked.

"No, thank you. I don't want to disturb her." He hummed, earning a scolding glance from his teacher.

"Put that child in its bed and meet me for tea in forty five seconds." She commanded.

Soundlessly, the Aburame crept into Mirai's room and placed the three year old gently upon her supple mattress before tucking her in. The walls were adorned by light green paint with small depictions of butterflies starring the sides as well as the ceiling. Sai had not allowed him to draw them, but Shino at least got permission to paint their tiny wings and make sure the artisan didn't simplify their stunning form.

His feet dragged him out of the chamber even though his mind remained scattered about as he walked into the living room and sat by the short-legged _chabudai_ table. Kurenai was clad in her standard mission gear, although much less guarded and stiff. She'd been teaching _genjutsu_ to Academy students and post-graduates for quite a couple of months and the course had proven itself to be a popular choice for those qualified. It didn't require her to be away for too long and it also gave her an opportunity to practice regularly.

Shino observed his teacher's back from his seat as she tended to the concoction in the kitchen. He could see her deftly placing the necessities onto the tray before walking towards the table.

She kneeled down on the opposite side, facing him. The moment she took the lid off the teapot, the smell of herbs flooded the atmosphere. She poured a portion into his cup before filling her own.

Kurenai sighed at her pupil's stubborn silence. "You can start off by telling me what's going on." She clarified, earning a nod from him. The kids of Team 8, as grown as they were, worried her to oblivion at times. Mostly, it was just Hinata, and now she primarily had Shino to rely on. He hated gossip and persistent conversation in general, but she couldn't help but take advantage of his outstanding brotherly affection towards her daughter. Upon finding out that she was pregnant, Kurenai had expected Hinata to be the most motherly out of the three; Shino's adoration for children had never even been a possibility in her mind.

The Aburame took a sip of his drink before starting. "There were rumors about Kiri that Shikamaru was sent to investigate. Six months later, he came back with decently solid info. During his time there, he'd crossed paths with Sasuke who agreed to tail a suspect. Uchiha's been on with this task for a few months already and there's been no attempted communication on his part, so Naruto sent us to find and bring him back." He spoke whilst watching the dark reflection of his glasses in the warm green liquid.

Kurenai's red eyes were flooded with mystery. "Do you think there might be a possibility that Sasuke has been harmed? A couple of months are a long time to follow somebody." She pondered.

"I highly doubt it." Shino stated. "There are few people in the world who could dream to stand up to the last Uchiha." His words were reassuring, but the thought of there being a warrior powerful enough to match one of Konoha's finest, was terrifying.

"I heard Hinata went to look for him. Didn't something bad happen? I heard that she was hospitalized but the ANBU wouldn't let me visit or tell me anything. Kakashi was the only one allowed to meet with her." Kurenai murmured, words woven with jealousy. It was _unnatural_ that Hatake was the gentle girl's closest mentor at the time. Her motherly side wanted to protest possessively, but being the rational woman that she was, Kurenai knew she needed to respect the way things were.

"Hinata went into shock during the meditation process, but managed to locate the target. She and Nara Shikamaru have been dispatched a couple of days ago in search of Uchiha Sasuke." Shino informed as Kurenai refilled his cup. Asuma's picture hung on the wall behind her and the Aburame couldn't keep his gaze from lingering on the bearded man's smile.

"When did Shikamaru come back? Why didn't he visit?" Kurenai enquired wistfully. Teams 8 and 9 were the children they never got to raise together. She tucked a strand of unruly black hair behind her ear as her gaze curiously deepened.

"He came back roughly a week and a half ago although he was immediately dragged off to a long interrogation in ANBU's HQ. As soon as that finished four days later, a mission was assigned to him."

"The one with Hinata." Kurenai sighed. "She works too much. It's unsafe and unnecessary."

Shino thought deeply for a moment. "I ought to disagree. Many aspects of her work are comforting to her and purposeful to the village. I understand that you have not seen her in a while, Sensei. I respect the fact that you have little to do with her training, but Kakashi helped her very much." He paused. "It's becoming less and less dangerous for her to use it. Meditation is still risky to some extent, but she's worked plenty hard in order to gain control over her Byakugan. She can use it confidently and effectively at this point."

Kurenai's lips trembled. "That's my little girl…" She heaved. "Hinata is the first daughter I ever had… She's what made me want to become a mother… and now, she's going through this all alone." Her voice quivered and Shino tensed. He was ignorant to the ways of crying women. Hinata oftentimes used to be flushed or even upset, but she kept her turmoil to herself. Looking back, that might've been a bad thing, but he preferred to think that she could handle her own issues.

"You've raised her to be strong." Shino said. "And strong, she is. Lonely, she will never be. That's all that matters."

Kurenai buried her face in her hands before straightening her back. "When will she be back?" She questioned. "I want to talk to her. I _need_ to talk to her." She insisted.

"There is no way of knowing." The Aburame started, stopping to drink some more of his tea. "I am leaving on another mission tomorrow at dusk…"

Kurenai's eyes widened at this. Shino continued. "…as part of a unit consisting of Kiba, Sai, Haruno Sakura and I. We are heading to Suna." He said, causing his mentor to raise a slender eyebrow inquisitively.

"Haruno Sakura? Isn't she a fancy doctor right about now? Why would all of you be needed up there?" She asked.

Shino gulped the last of his drink before sighing. "We don't know. Ino will be replacing Sakura in the hospital for the time being and they only let us know that the purpose will be disclosed to us only when we get to Suna."

"Are you going as ANBU or jonin?" Kurenai inquired.

"Sensei, if I were going as ANBU, I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to tell you that." He scratched his cheek in boredom.

She chuckled, gazing at her own reflection in the green tea. "Shino…" She brunette started, pale hands holding onto the warm brown cup tentatively. "I was hoping that there is one thing that you _could_ tell me… in confidence."

Kurenai looked at him with a particular uncertainty which alarmed him. Even though she couldn't see his eyes, Shino had a feeling that she noticed him falter instinctively.

She cleared her throat. "I heard that Hinata's having her eyes sealed. Is it true?" Her voice broke at the end of the question as she bit her lip, awaiting the answer he could deny her.

"It seems so."

* * *

"Identity?"

"Travelers." Shikamaru said.

"Affiliation?"

"The Hidden Leaf village."

"I'm sorry for the hustle, but we just need to see your ID or anything to confirm that. Just protocol. You must be tired… I know what that's like, especially at this time of night." A young man laughed from behind his stall, lids heavy, violet eyes foggy and cheeks pale against his ruffled brown hair.

Placing a hand on her comrade's shoulder, Hinata stepped forward until the top of her frame was illuminated by the torch at the man's side. He shifted his gaze onto the girl as she pulled down the hood of her cloak and blinked down at him with doe eyes much alike to his own.

"Oh!" He sheepishly chanted. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kaori. Hyuuga Kaori."

"Sayumi." She smiled sweetly. Shikamaru watched as the name slid past her lips with such fluidity as if she'd naturally said it a million times before. Had he been the clerk, he would not have doubted her for a second.

"So, once you go through the gate you ought to walk past the home district and get to the very center of Dosho, that's where the Nishimori manor is. There is a Hyuuga house there and it's open to all visitors from within the clan. Your friend should be able to get a room too if you vouch for him." He said and Hinata nodded attentively. Shikamaru didn't know whether he was baffled or relieved by the lack of questioning from the guy.

"We're just looking to spend the night someplace warm, an inn would do just fine." The Nara cut into their discussion, but halted his pursuit of answer the second he met Hinata's gaze.

There was something warning that flashed through her eyes. "We're fine." She said before gracing the Hyuuga boy with another smile. "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime." He waved dismissively as he watched their retrieving backs disappear behind the red gates which appeared indigo through the night.

Silence prevailed.

The only sound reaching their ears was the easy swaying of grass in the distance. Hinata and her partner walked down the narrow city pathways with scenic residences and picturesque gardens on both sides. Those were lit up by elaborate streetlights and as they peered at the homes of wealthy merchants, both got lost in thought.

Shikamaru fidgeted as he realized he'd completely lost track of time. The Hyuuga was leading the way and her teammate also would've asked the occurring question of whether she'd ever ventured into the bordering cities had he not been so irked by the unfamiliar setting.

They wandered passing by dozens of estates and continuing to ponder over their surroundings amongst other things. Their footsteps lightly patted against the ground. All sounds had turned into white noise and at this point they were too engulfed by the residences which towered over them.

The Nishimori manor was surrounded by homes which were sheltered by elaborate fences and gardens, appearing to be so very safe. Shikamaru and Hinata couldn't escape feeling like impostors in their haven.

"Incredible, aren't they." Hinata lightly hummed, eyes tracing the splendid rooftops of the houses built in a traditional Zenshūyō style, a form of Buddhist architecture. Through the dim lighting, Shikamaru observed the delicate carving of wood framing the doors and windows peeking from behind the flora of elaborate Japanese gardens and fences. From the distance, they had noticed the city covered vast portions of land and that seemed to be because in spite of the narrow streets, every complex before and inside the Nishimori manor took up a lot of space.

"I didn't expect a town of gardeners would be this lavish." He murmured, still entranced by the lot of residences which all seemed to rival the luxury of the embassies he'd visited in the Hidden Leaf and beyond.

Hinata laughed daintily at his tone of surprise. "They grow rare and valuable herbs – medicinal, culinary, fragrant… You know my clan is notoriously known by our borderline religious dedication to tea. This is where most of it comes from. They supply us with millions worth of greens every year. The Nishimori have passed their Shizenkan's herbalistic genius from generation to generation."

Shikamaru slowly nodded at the notion. "Are you sure we won't be recognized? You're the heir to your clan, how can there even be a Hyuuga that doesn't know you."

"The House is an important part of the Nishimori manor. It's always buzzing with Hyuugas here for business… or tea tasting sprees. They all know my name but they don't know my face. Even if they did… well, you know they say we all look the same so it shouldn't make a difference." She smiled and Shikamaru chuckled tiredly at the girl's allusion.

A pregnant pause ensued before the Nara's lips parted. For a moment of hesitation he halted his breath unsure of what he was about to say, yet the time seemed to call for it.

"You're a good liar." He said. "I didn't take you for a good liar."

It wasn't a question and therefore Hinata supplied him with no answer to his remark. Shikamaru didn't know it and certainly couldn't see it, but something in the girl's chest throbbed painfully since those words reached her.

They spent the rest of their walk in silence. Gradually, the pathways started branching out and the streetlights became brighter. Shortly they found themselves passing by small shops and houses out in the open, unguarded by fences and unhidden by gardens, built close together.

If he'd inexplicably found himself there under different circumstances, Shikamaru might've confused the place with Konoha. The architecture of the central district seemed about right, but the streets were eerily empty and void of any typical junk one would find in an inhabited area.

For some reason, Shikamaru slowed down and had Hinata walk a few steps ahead of him. She let him be but couldn't help but wonder whether he had truly felt her turmoil or just did it for the sake of it.

"Up." The girl uttered just loudly enough for him to hear before jumping quietly and vanishing from view. Shikamaru sighed and followed suit, landing on the nearest rooftop with a soft thump unlike the Hyuuga who progressed several houses away without making a sound.

It was an unnecessary precaution and a habit. She had gotten used to going places without being seen or heard. It was sad, her comrade thought, yet stuck with the decision not to confront her about personal issues again. At that point, they both understood that it was too much. During the past several days, the pair had scratched the surface of one another's fears and burdens. Even that little felt like a surplus and it had to stop.

They edged closer to the Nishimori manor and as he saw Hinata descend into a nearby alley, Shikamaru followed. Walking around the corner, they found gates similar to those of Hinata's family home.

The girl nodded at her partner, and he understood she ought to take lead. Slowly, his fingers untied the strap taming his mane of raven hair and tucked it inside his pocket. Casting his eyes down, he went alongside Hinata who knocked at the door. They could hear the footsteps of somebody edging closer to the gate before it was finally opened. Holding up a torch, in front of them stood a middle aged male with curly brown hair and piercing pale and pupil-less pastel green eyes.

 _Shizenkan._

Shikamaru's breath hitched at the sight. Even though he'd spent his entire life watching members of the Hyuuga clan moon about Konoha, the ghostly violet of the Byakugan eyes never failed to take him aback.

"We are looking for the Hyuuga house." Hinata blinked up at the man who immediately nodded his head and motioned them to follow. Shikamaru shadowed the two through the maze of sumptuous houses and small gardens of the Nishimori manor before they arrived before a grand edifice of three stories with a Hyuuga emblem carved at the top of a scenic entrance. The building looked bleak in comparison to the lavish rest of the manor, yet the minimalistic appeal was only suited for a bunch such as the Hyuuga.

The man left them to enter on their own.

Nara Shikamaru couldn't quite put a finger on it, but as Hinata was staring forward, something in the void of her eyes reflected fear unlike any he had ever seen.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Hey guys, I'm sorry for not posting in such a long time. Bear with me. I hope you liked this one. It's shorter than the previous three, but I really wanted to update _Recreant_ , so here it is.

I'm still new at writing and I hope to get better with time. I always used to shy away from showing people my work and my publishing _Recreant_ was a boiling point in my progress. I realized that I wasn't getting any better with material simply piling up and that I would never finish an actual story without the motivation of sharing it with others. So, conclusively, thank you for the support.

I know most of you are just looking forward to see Sasuke and Hinata meet, but I really can't rush this. They will in the next chapter, I promise. Once they do, they will be the primary focus of the story. Tell me what you think and again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

 **RECAP**

 _'_ _Shizenkan'_

 _Shikamaru's breath hitched at the sight. Even though he'd spent his entire life watching members of the Hyuuga clan moon about Konoha, the ghostly violet of the Byakugan eyes never failed to take him aback. The Shizenkan was strikingly similar and gave him the same chill._

 _"We are looking for the Hyuuga house." Hinata blinked up at the curly man who immediately nodded his head and motioned them to follow._

 _Shikamaru shadowed the two through the maze of sumptuous houses and small gardens of the Nishimori manor until they arrived before a grand edifice of three stories with a Hyuuga emblem carved at the top of a scenic entrance. The building looked bleak in comparison to the lavish rest of the manor, yet the minimalistic appeal was only suited for a bunch such as the Hyuuga._

 _The man left them to enter on their own._

 _Nara Shikamaru couldn't quite put a finger on it, but as Hinata was staring forward, something in the void of her eyes suddenly reflected fear unlike any he had ever seen._

* * *

Considering that for the past several days the only constant figure in his line of sight had been the Hyuuga heiress, Shikamaru had involuntarily gotten somewhat familiar with her mannerism and pace. Seconds after the Nishimori man had left, Hinata's eyes widened as if petrified and stared into nothingness. She would've gone paler had her skin not been so pallid to begin with and for several moments, the Hyuuga hadn't budged or hitched a breath.

Shikamaru watched the girl blink suddenly, as if stirred hastily from her trance before slowly walking away and pushing the door of the Hyuuga house forward. He could have sworn that her breathing had grown slightly heavy. It was so utterly out of character that Shikamaru could barely wrap his head around it. The ominous feeling he was getting prompted him to keep silent. She hadn't made eye contact but assumed he would follow.

He walked in after her and heard as the door shut behind them with a low thump.

As was to be expected, the interior was much like the exterior surface of the building – bleak and traditional, consisting of the bare minimum as far as decoration was concerned. Hinata fit right into the ambient as she walked over to the reception and started talking at the receptionist, a young Hyuuga girl with a plump bottom lip, foggy eyes and long black hair tied in a low ponytail and tucked behind her ears.

"A room for two, please." Hinata requested and the other girl nodded in response before reaching into a drawer and taking out a set of keys. Her movements were somewhat clumsy and strained, especially for a ninja, but it was late in the evening. The Nara was more focused on unraveling the reason behind his partner's odd behaviour.

"Actually, two rooms would do. I can pay for mine." Shikamaru chimed in, emerging from behind a small bouquet of dry peonies. He started tapping his fingers against the marble surface of the reception desk, but came to a halt when Hinata's hand cautiously landed on his elbow.

And there it was – eyes stared up at his. Something vague gleamed in the violet of her iridescent orbs which sent a message clearer than one put in words.

"Come on, honey…" She said in a small voice. "Don't be a stranger." An odd smile crept up Hinata's features and Shikamaru knew not to defy.

Then he exhaled slowly, trying to battle his confusion and not let it show. "Okay." With a forced tug at the corner of his lips, Shikamaru took the keys from the girl whose countenance had remained passive throughout the interaction. Nothing was said.

"Let's go."

* * *

Later, not a word had slipped past Hinata's tightly shut lips and it had been well over ten minutes since she'd last spared him any glance. On the contrast, as his growing panic caused by her odd behaviour threatened to spill, Shikamaru's eyes were on her every second of their way down to room number 27. He realised that following her around was everything he'd done ever since they departed from Konoha. He hadn't minded up until this point.

"Hinata…" He whispered as he slid the door of their tatami-matter bedroom shut behind them. It featured a porch open to a small garden, much like the ones in the Nara compound where he used to spend hours playing _shogi_ with his father, once upon a time. It was pitch black and only the glow of a single lantern sitting at the edge of the roof could be reflected in the small koi pond outside. A dim light saturated the indoors from a ceiling lamp, hanging by a thread.

As she walked in, Hinata stretched her neck and peeled the dark cloak off her skin. For the first time in what felt like an agonising eternity to the Nara, her voice rang in the night. "I heard they have a wonderful hot-spring in here. Perhaps you would enjoy a bath," she turned to him with a smile which appeared particularly out of place at the moment. Shikamaru's mouth went slightly agape until the girl slowly nodded. Something in those blank slates of her eyes was making him nervous. What did she see?

He took a deep breath of air. "Yeah… Perhaps…" Shikamaru couldn't tell why he was complying rather than asking questions, but judging by the way Hinata's chest seemed to fall just slightly that second as though a sigh of relief had escaped her, he concluded that it may have been the better choice.

He discarded his luggage and coat before going to the bathroom and changing into the yukata provided for the occupants of the extended manor. His hair was greasy, out of his pony-tail and falling about his face in awkward angles, skin dry and stained by days worth of traveling through the wild, but he wasn't enjoying the idea of going alone as much as he normally would be.

Before he slid the door of their room open to the corridor, Shikamaru looked over his shoulder at the girl who was still in her mission gear, kneeling by the short-legged table, tea cup in hand.

His eyebrows slightly furrowed as their eyes met. "Hinata… What do you plan on doing while I'm gone?" Shikamaru asked warily.

"You may find me taking a walk…", she said, her visage as placid as ever. "But _don't_."

Breath hitched in his throat at the underlying cold tone in which she said those last two words. "Is everything okay..?" He enquired so silently one would miss it from a few feet away.

"Go, Shikamaru…" She put her tea down, surrendering it to cool by the evening breeze. Upon standing up without making a sound, she slowly approached him. Shikamaru almost shivered when she silently crept her hands around his torso. As her face rested by the crook of his neck, the Nara instinctively lowered his head.

"Be safe, Shikamaru…" She whispered, breath tickling the shell of his ear. "We're being watched…"

* * *

Several minutes after he'd gone, Hinata tied her hair back and entered the bathroom. A vast mirror over the sink reflected her disheveled appearance and monotone expression concealing a surplus of anxiety. She bent down and flinched as she splashed cool water onto her face. The Hyuuga shut her eyes before smothering her face with it as if to dry the moisture on her skin. Finding cover, she quickly turned her Byakugan on, and scanned the perimeter.

Hinata shuddered inwardly before laying the cloth down onto the sink and pacing out of the bathroom. A number of things were wrong in the present moment and she pushed her mind to wrap itself around the calculations she was trying to process simultaneously. The Hyuuga house was not entirely void of guests. Half a dozen was scattered about the building - a few travellers, she estimated judging by their clothing and personal belongings.

The issue lied within the few dozen members of the Hyuuga clan occupying their positions within the manor. Much like the girl from the reception they all had a very somber and defected feel, and she could tell _why._ They were all in danger — Hinata felt her blood going cold in this moment of anxiety.

She collected her thoughts as her eyes roamed about. Hinata took a deep breath as her gaze landed on the phone sitting on a small table in a secluded corner of the room. Slowly but surely she kneeled besides it and picked up a small piece of paper containing a handwritten note. It contained a few handy pieces of information for visitors. Having made up her mind, she decided against calling the reception. The Hyuuga dialled another number and picked up the phone with gentle hands. It was cold against her ear and the rings from the worn device were quiet.

She held her breath until she heard a murmur from the other side of the line.

 _"…_ _hello?"_

Her body tensed at the suspense with which the person seemed to respond to her calling.

"Oh… Good evening. My partner and I are guests at the Hyuuga house and it just came to my attention that there was only one large yukata prepared for our disposal. I was wondering whether I could, by any chance obtain another one?" She spoke respectfully and gracefully, though her pale right fist was digging into the tatami mat.

 _"…_ _it is very late in the evening, Miss."_

Hinata shifted in her seat, flinching at the implied turn-down. "I am aware of this. However, I came to this house in order to relax and I do not see myself doing that in my muddy travelling attire. Please…"

 _"…_ _I am sorry, but we are not able to make deliveries at this hour."_

"I'll come to you." She said, straight away. Fearing consequences of the hasty suggestion, she brought her forefinger up to her bottom lip.

 _"_ _The Ivory House is on the opposite side of the compound, Miss."_

Hinata gulped. "I'll be there in ten."

* * *

It was 2AM and he was sitting there, alone in an open bath, eyes closed and thoughts in a frenzy. Nara Shikamaru was inwardly recalling every detail from that night in chronological order and trying to piece together the sequence of events which ultimately lead to Hinata's paranoia. In times like these he truly understood how beneficial it would be to find himself in possession of a _dojutsu_ which would allow him to track his teammate of the hour and make sure that she was safe. Still, he doubted that she would be wrong about any of this. If anybody in this world could understand what it's like to feel the Byakugan on one's skin, it was a Hyuuga. It hurt his pride just a little bit - not having noticed anything out of the ordinary until she'd gone into survival mode. The rate at which that girl's power grew and evolved was incomprehensible to most. However, having spent time with her, Shikamaru came to understand that it had all come at a great cost.

He sighed, slipping further down into the hot-spring. The enclosed body of water was tinted a green hue and rimmed by hefty grey rocks much like the one against whom Shikamaru was resting his back.

It all started with that man. Or was it the house?

As the warm water soothed the knots scattered about his limbs and back, he surrendered himself to the current of thoughts. Shikamaru sat there in silence for what felt like an eternity, pondering. Hinata said to go to the baths, but never specified for how long he was to stay there. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open before any sound penetrated the mist of steam lingering over the water's surface, feeling a foreign presence in the vicinity.

A tap echoed the previously vacant space. Seamlessly, the Nara shifted his body around to face the entrance. The atmosphere was thick with white clouds through which he could make out a small figure in the distance. He furrowed his eyebrows, vision going in and out of focus — a child? As irrational as it seemed, the tension in Shikamaru's shoulders wouldn't subside. The young intruder carried a minute lantern to light its path and their light footsteps became slightly more consistent in pace as they drew closer. The light of the lantern cast an eerie glow at the ground in front and the small hand clutching it. And then then child came to a stop, still appearing as a shadow through the fog. Shikamaru's breath hitched as the strange figure put down the lantern and descended onto the ground, thin and boney knees colliding with the dank stone. The kid's hand moved and seemed to thrust something forwards. With a thud, an object rolled down the footing and into the palm of Shikamaru's hand as he stood up in the sizzling water. That very second, the child picked up the lantern and soundlessly disappeared into the mist as the Nara remained frozen in place.

* * *

Hinata crept through the narrow passages scattered about the compound like a thief in the night. Her heart beat rapidly inside of her chest as she broke into a clearing and beheld the Ivory House, standing tall and ashen. In front of it a number of slender columns rose from the ground — over the tip of one of them hung a lone silken yukata, flapping in the wind like a white flag. Cautiously she approached, eyeing a small note at the bottom of the slim column with the words _'Room 27'_ scribbled over it in messy handwriting.

No. This isn't how things were going to go. Hinata bent and picked up the yellowish piece of paper tainted with black ink. Staring up at the yukata one more time before leaving it behind, the girl felt the cold breeze sending shivers up her spine. She tucked the note in her pocket and marched past the column, edging towards the Ivory House. On the entrance hung a notice, explicitly stating _'STOP—Employees only'_ in thick red paint.

The Hyuuga stepped forward, tracing the cool, dense wood with her fingertips. The scent of chloroform which traveled all about the building became prevalent as she soundlessly slipped inside. The room spread for what looked like miles on end; a large pool that consumed most of the space held a body of water that reeked as thought it hadn't been filtered in days. Just over it lingered hundreds of parallel wires from which hung clothing, bed sheets, towels and cloths of all kinds, making up a maze of ghostly white linen swaying in the breeze that crept into the vast space through the cracks in the old wooden walls. Hinata could sense something ominous about the emptiness; that in fact, she wasn't alone occupying it. One of her company, like a watchdog of some sort, was withstanding from contact whilst she merely stood inside.

Taking a deep breath, Hinata walked towards the pool. In between rows of linen, flat and narrow bridges were spread down and across its length and width. This is how laundry was done in her home too — all the wires would be lowered into the water simultaneously and maids would approach from the bridges and scrub the whites clean. It was a routine repeated day-to-day and water was changed in the evenings. There was _everything_ wrong with what she was seeing.

Hinata hadn't attempted to keep her presence concealed while she stepped onto the grid bridging the stale soap water. Her figure disappeared in the maze of white sheets and she maintained her journey deeper towards the centre of the pool, all whilst sensing another presence move.

"You… shouldn't… be here."

A trembling voice echoed the room. Her walk came to a halt. Though she didn't need it to locate where the sound was coming from, Hinata's chakra rushed into her eyes, activating the Byakugan. Her heart stopped.

A young Hyuuga girl stood six rows of laundry away, staring back at her, clad in a drenched garment of clothing. She looked brittle and void, gaze weak and eyes rimmed with dark circles. Contrasting the rest of the image saturated in black and white, blue lines of her chakra pathways were consistently curved into a complex web of vessels. The terrifying aspect of her being was the thick, foreign, _parasitic_ pattern sprawling along the insides of her mouth and throat. It was a seal unlike any other she had ever seen.

"Why?" Hinata asked softly, trying to conceal the urgency in her voice.

"You… shouldn't—"

"Who did this to you?" Hinata cut her off as the girl's speech, repetitive as it was, seemed like it was inflicting pain on her.

"Ugh…" She whimpered, clenched her teeth, and her tone became somewhat louder. "They… _see_ —"

Hinata's eyes widened as the girl suddenly went limp like a rag doll. A second prior, the seal on her neck pulsated brightly before sucking the rest of her chakra in—immediate death. To a ninja having one's chakra drained was the equivalent of thorough blood loss.

Before she could fall into the dirty water, the Hyuuga jumped from bridge to bridge and caught her kin's lifeless frame. She placed her down onto the wooden surface and prodded her fingers into the side of her neck to check for a plus — it was gone.

"No…" The Hyuuga whispered, gently gripping the girl's shoulders. Long hair, dark as the night cascaded down her shoulders and framed the edges of her pale face and sunken cheeks.

So many lives she had witnessed be taken in the past few years, but this one hurt unlike any other. The picture was slowly being pieced together in her mind, and rage flared inside her gut.

Her heart rate spiked as adrenaline penetrated into her bloodstream. A second person whose presence she had sensed earlier unveiled. He had tried to keep hidden, but Hinata felt him from a mile away.

"Good evening again, sir…" She spoke whilst gently closing the young Hyuuga girl's eyes with the palm of her hand and trying to keep her cool. "Fancy seeing you here…"

"Excuse the lass, Miss…" The man emerged from around the corner, walking towards her and the girl's corpse whom Hinata was holding. "What a terrible accident to witness during your stay with us, Nishimori."

Yes, Hinata recognised him as the man who had shown her and Shikamaru to the Hyuuga complex. He hadn't said a word back then, and she understood it must have been due to the abundance of a thick accent. Hinata said: "I'm sure there's nothing you could have done to help it." She clenched her jaw, laying the girl down and standing up to face the intruder.

"Yes. We take care of our own very well, you see… But I'm afraid it was her time to go… It's a terrible loss, but she was in fact a very poor worker. Had a hard time following orders, apparently…" He ran a hand through an unruly mane of raven locks, pale green eyes gleaming through the night. "You understand how much we value discipline in both of our clans."

"Certainly." Hinata stepped in front of the girl's body, shielding it in a protective manner. Her chin tilted up as she spoke at the man. "Within our clans we operate very… delicate and structured hierarchy. Poor discipline leads to inconsistency and…flaw, which are colossal damage to any good system. When there is a fallout… People notice." She whispered the last sentence and watched the way his expression changed in small ways carefully.

"Miss Hyuuga… You are too observant for your own good." He forced a laugh, taking a step closer. "But you know… It might get you into trouble one day."

Hinata smiled delicately—she was _done_. "Trouble… Trouble with who? Trouble with you?… Or the other eight you have closing in on this place?"

His frown deepened. "Feel free to wipe that pretty grin off your face, little girl. You're not leaving here."

She tucked away a strand which had escaped her ponytail. "Me? Oh, no… I'm here on business, you see. And my partner is waiting for me. I don't have time to stick around for too long…" Hinata heaved a breath as she prepared for what was to come. "However, I might just spare a minute or two to play with you all."

A single hand motion from her, and every piece of linen hung on the hundreds of wires started defying gravity. The man's eyes widened as eight of his accomplices were exposed, and the white sheets flew up, sticking to the ceiling.

Hinata's Byakugan scanned their appearances and she finally understood.

"You hurt my people, you pay the price. Now, come at me." She said, voice growing quieter by the second. "I'll show you the time of your life."

* * *

Shikamaru sat in at the porch of their bedroom with hands firmly gripping the curve of his knees as raven locks fell freely down his shoulders. Over an hour had passed since Hinata left, and the wait was eating at his last nerves. His whole body was itching to do _anything_ at this point, but he had a feeling that Hinata wouldn't be happy if he'd strayed any further. This was, after all, her ground and though by this point it was apparent that something was wrong, Shikamaru still had a very unclear idea as to what exactly that was.

He hadn't noticed her slip into the room until she called his name.

"Shikamaru."

The man inhaled deeply before standing up and turning around to behold her disheveled appearance. She was still in uniform, hefty grey cloak weighing on her tense shoulders. Unusually, mud was smeared over her clothing, hands, left cheek and forehead. It tainted the flooring as the girl hadn't bothered kicking her boots off at the entrance.

"We have a problem." Hinata uttered, finally acknowledging the whirlwind of a night in a plain statement to begin with.

Shikamaru's eyebrows furrowed slightly and he nodded, biting his lip. "Talk to me. I assume we don't have much time to waste."

She gave a brief affirmative before letting her coat slip onto the ground. "It started when the man greeted us. Something about him threw me off, but I dismissed it in the beginning. The true issue began by the gates when I had a vision that terrified me. Short and vague as it was, the guy was in it, and that was enough to make me alert of some things. The tricky thing about my visions is that they don't come true all the time. I have been assured of this through experience. Though they are frequent, they also vary in detail, clarity, validity..." Hinata paced, trying to tame a frenzy of thoughts into words for the Nara to understand.

She paused, and made eye contact with her partner who was listening very carefully. "Shikamaru… You don't know much about the Nishimori clan, do you? That's why none of this must have made any sense to you."

"What was it about that man that scared you so much, Hinata?" He enquired, puzzled by what she was saying.

"It was his appearance. Members of the Nishimori clan, as well as the Hyuuga clan and many other greater ones, possess certain generic features. What's typical for them is a signature look of straight blonde hair and their dōjutsu. Both traits are carried by recessive genes." Hinata elaborated fast, and Shikamaru caught on.

Finally experiencing that moment of clarity, he felt like lightning hit. The Nara chimed in: "So… If a person from outside the clan reproduced with one from inside, the possibility of their offspring possessing the Shizenkan is slim to none."

Hinata nodded vigorously. "The man who showed us in had dark, curly hair, which are both indicatively dominant genes, never associated with the bloodline. Theoretically, he might be a member of the clan but the nature of the dōjutsu is such that he could not possibly have acquired it, had one of his parents not been a Nishimori. I might have dismissed it as a one in a million chance, but then my vision happened…" She paused to roll her stiff shoulders. "After you left, I scanned the perimeter and searched the Hyuuga manor for any suspicious activity. A handful of visitors that is here seemed fine, but people who work and reside here permanently…"

Shikamaru watched her blink quickly and pace in a circle in front of him, reliving the distress of that night. She continued: "Those people… _my_ people… they all had a cursed seal of some sort. I've never seen anything like it before."

"What?!" The Nara yelled, feeling overwhelmed by a mixture of fury and bemusement. He lowered his voice to an angry whisper, leaning in closer to his Hyuuga accomplice: "What seal?! Who could have done this?"

"I don't know!" Hinata exclaimed. "The seal covers the inside of their mouths and throats, probably preventing them from speaking or limiting what they say. I think it's painful — doesn't let them sleep or eat. The girl at the reception was one of them, but having scanned the manor I saw that all are either awake in their rooms, or roaming about the place in the middle of the night."

The palm of her hand reached over her forehead as she closed her eyes in remembrance. "It's bad. I went to the Ivory House under the excuse of… grabbing a yukata. It was transparent and they must be suspicious of everybody who comes here, especially at this hour. I knew that they wouldn't like me wandering anywhere so I hoped that they would come out if I got close enough."

Shikamaru listened carefully, eyeing her attire that was drenched and muddied unevenly. "What happened there?"

A pregnant pause ensued and Hinata's gaze was cast downwards. "A Hyuuga girl was waiting for me at the laundry pool—sealed, soaked, malnourished. She was trying to warn me when her seal was activated by someone from the outside. It was the man from the gates, I suspect. He strolled in, acting coy and oblivious, probably enjoying the foreplay before what he thought was going to be a fun time getting rid of me. Of course, he had backup." She murmured.

The Nara's arms crossed over his sturdy chest. "I take it they're out."

The girl nodded. "Won't be up in another couple of days. Not one of them looked like a genuine member of the Nishimori clan, though they introduced themselves as such. I took the liberty of tying them up, just for safety. Killing them would be justified but I believe their eyes need to be conserved since… well… they belong to somebody else." She muttered the last words in a pained voice.

"Fuck—" Shikamaru angrily kicked the edge of their coffee table, making the wood splinter into bits and break apart under the sheer force. He buried his face in the palms of his hands, seething as Hinata bit her lip.

"The guys I handled were the only ones awake at this hour. After burying the girl and storing their bodies somewhere safe, I realised I had one more stop to make." She finished sternly. "The Hyuuga from the Town Gates… His eyes were the ones I felt watching us the whole time. He was trying to make sure that we weren't up for any trouble. After my stunt at the Ivory House I knew I had to get rid of him soon before he alerted the remainders of his group."

"So you did clean up after yourself?" Shikamaru was quietly reassured.

"Yes… After that, I took a look at the rest of the town…" Her voice grew pained and thinner than before. "Inside those houses… Nobody there looks like they belong to the clan, but they all have the Shizenkan. Everybody is asleep, as if it's just a normal night. These nine guys were just a small fraction of the invasive forces… It's a _ghost-town_. "

"Who are they?" Shikamaru asked, restless and torn.

The Hyuuga failed to budge, hand resting on her hip. The Nara watched as her iridescent orbs filled with turmoil before rising to meet his own.

"I have a few ideas, but that does not matter now." She settled for saving time by staying brief. "We know what's happened to the few dozen Hyuuga. The problem is, they are a minority in Doshu. Where are the hundreds of Nishimori clan members? They're nowhere to be found in the city. I might have to go into meditation again, but—" Her voice trembled though she kept her composure.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as realisation dawned upon him. "This makes sense—" He started digging through his pockets before reaching a small oval object and handing it over to Hinata. "While I was in the baths, a child gave this to me and ran away. I didn't realise what it might be until now."

In the palm of her hand landed a canvas pouch tied at the end with a dark ribbon. Undoing the tight knot, Hinata found that it contained a dense bundle of greens. She brought it closer to the tip of her nose, inhaled and said: "This smell… it's Mandra grass—"

"The kid was small… It might've been able to sneak out somehow and pick up a handful to point us in the right direction." Shikamaru deduced.

"I don't know how they could have known we are coming…" The Hyuuga paused, "but that doesn't matter. We don't have any time to waste, so I think I'm going to need to use my… sight."

Shikamaru's breath hitched as his countenance reflected a hint of concern. "Are you positive about this? Hinata, the fields are pretty big and you've lost a lot of chakra… You'll need to use it in finding Sasuke."

"Yes… I can do it." She said, moving towards the opposite side of the room. Shikamaru watched her retreating back disappear into the night as she stepped down the porch and onto the lawn. On the dewy grass she sat, cross-legged, before closing her eyes.

Quietly, he then made his way to sit in front of her. Right at the start of the mission, she had explained what necessary course of action he would need to take in case something went wrong. It was straight-forward, and Shikamaru truly believed in her strength. None of that made seeing those same lines creeping from the rims of her eyes any less stressful.

She was breathing in a perfect rhythm, every rise and fall of her chest in sync with the even spread of blue over her visage. After some time of training with Kakashi, Hinata had mastered awakening this Byakugan with ease — but never had she practiced it in such a high-anxiety condition.

Inside her mind a picture started forming. Her vision lacked focus, but she was scanning every inch of the fields outside the city, slowly expanding the covered area. Hinata could feel cold sweat tickling the nape of her neck.

"Oh my God…" She whispered before breaking out of her trance. The blue lines subsided and a deep breath entered her lungs. Her eyes fell onto Shikamaru whose grimace reflected his impatience.

He eagerly asked, "Are they alright?", scared of the possibility they had both thought of but not dared put into words.

"They're alive… Scattered through a series of underground chambers underneath the field of Mandra grass. The entrance which looks like a storm drain is located about 20 miles southwest from here." She sighed. "We need to go and get them—"

"Wait," Shikamaru placed his hand over her shoulder, urging her not to stand as the Hyuuga had attempted. "I can't let you do that."

"What do you mean?" Hinata's whisper was drenched in confusion and disbelief.

He shook his head. "The two of us are not enough to handle this on our own. This is something that needs to be dealt with by the Leaf." He spoke in a distant monotone, rationalising in the face of the girl who must have been terrified and devastated, behind that pale face void of any expression.

"Hinata, I understand how you feel about this. But I also know that you are a professional capable of seeing where I'm coming from." He ran a hand through his disheveled raven hair in frustration before looking at her again. "We have to let Konoha know about this as a matter of urgency. They would need to contact the Hidden Leaf in our stead. Whilst carrying out an S-Rank, our hands are tied. Nobody can know we're here."

Hinata's back fell flat onto the grass. She groaned, forearm coming up to rest over her eyes. "So…" The Hyuuga licked her lips before continuing, "we have until sunrise before anybody notices a few of their own are missing…"

"Using a summon wouldn't be the safest way of conveying a message, and we can't put a high priority status on it without identifying ourselves as the senders…" Shikamaru brainstormed. "Shit, we need to find a way to do this quickly and safely or else this whole thing is gonna blow up… There's nothing I could do, but maybe—"

His lips parted open, but he paused abruptly. Hinata still couldn't see him with her eyes covered, but something in the way he hesitated was telling of a risky thought. Slowly, she sat up again.

Her countenance was completely changed. Out of context, she might have appeared quite unbothered or cool.

"Come on, say it…" Hinata prompted mildly. "We both thought about it."

A pregnant pause ensued. Before continuing, the man cast his gaze downwards. "I don't know the limits of what you can do." Shikamaru gulped, suddenly feeling as though he was stepping into dangerous territory. In spite of it, he then looked up. "Because I don't know them… I wonder."

Hinata rolled her shoulders before rising from the ground. Her hands went up to push falling strands of midnight blue out of her face before moving along to massage her scalp and temples.

"You want me to reach out to Naruto… Somehow…" As she said that, the girl's breathing grew heavier than before.

Shikamaru cautiously observed from his spot as she roamed several steps away from him. He was already regretting ever starting to bring it up. That was until she turned around and looked him straight in the eye. The crisp evening air streamed through his lungs as he waited for her response.

"You know what to do if things go south." Hinata was a tad louder and held herself with a newfound firmness Shikamaru couldn't place his finger on. She then moved on to say: "It's rash and it might be out of my hands, but I'll try."

Shikamaru stood up, swiftly becoming overwhelmed by the scale of what she was about to undertake.

"Before you ask…" Hinata forced a small smile. "I _am_ sure about this."

* * *

"Please, Lord Hokage, you can't do this anymore." Shizune pleaded quietly, holding an old clipboard tightly to her chest. She eyed the man in front of her with remorse, and he could feel it burning on his skin. Consequently he kept an empty gaze fixed on the contents of his desk's surface.

"Please… Take a break." She said. "You haven't slept a wink ever since your interrogation with Kakashi."

Turning around in his seat to face the windows, blue eyes traced the dark outline of Konoha's rooftops over which the sun was beginning to set. Warm colours saturated the evening sky over his village at the end of another day he'd spent serving it. Naruto heaved apprehensively, running his bandaged hand through a mop of unruly blonde locks. The other one hung limply over the side of his armrest.

"Fine." The Hokage uttered, slowly pushing his back out of the red cushion and hearing the bones crack. Though Naruto's body was itching to stay put, he understood how immature it would make him seem if he incessantly refused to take his assistant's kind advice.

As ache flooded his shoulders and back, Naruto groaned. "Damn, Shizune! It's pretty bad, ain't it?" He forced a small laugh, flashing a smile. "Don't worry… Just let me finish this last batch and I'll be out of here in no time."

Her countenance was somewhat relieved. Shizune beamed: "Good… Very good! Make sure to sleep very well!" She watched him stretch his sore arms gently and roll his shoulders, though still not abandoning the chair. "I can arrange for breakfast to be served for you at the Hokage mansion. You could use a break from this place." She eagerly suggested, tucking a strand of raven hair behind her ear.

"Ah…" He chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't stay at the mansion anymore, Shizune. If you need anything I'll be in my old apartment, but I don't have a problem coming into work as usual tomorrow morning."

Her breath hitched in the face of his tired glee. Warm red light washed over his resting form as it crept through the broad windows. In a raspy voice, the man said: "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Of course." She bowed deeply. "Have a good evening."

"You too." He offered her a small wave before seeing Shizune step into the hallway and shut the doors of his office behind herself.

With a sigh, the remainders of his bright expression turned to nothingness — a blank slate of fatigue and turmoil. His assistant pitied him. Naruto buried his face in the palms of his hands. He hadn't slept in three days—three days ever since she'd left. It made no rational sense to wait like this, when his love wouldn't return any time soon. Still, his body reacted this way to the ache of her absence. He worried even while knowing her strength and missed the girl in spite of her not feeling the same.

Naruto grumbled, terminating that train of though for now. Pursing his lips, he reached to open the desk drawer at his right. From inside peeked up an image. The Uzumaki gulped, taking the ivory frame by the edges with weak hands and bringing it closer to look.

And there she was, sitting on a field, surrounded by tulips underneath the blue sky, graced by the most beautiful smile on her face. He'd taken that picture of her laughing and gazing at the clouds a long time ago. They were just kids — in love and oblivious of what tragedy was going to dawn upon them. When Naruto closed his eyes, he felt as though he could almost feel the spring breeze of that day caressing his cheeks and her voice ringing like bells through the meadow. His breathing went heavy and as a flood of emotion suddenly threatened to spill, Naruto quickly put it back into the drawer and slammed it shut.

Quickly he stood up and looked around the empty room. Swallowing the discomfort and the void, Naruto slipped out of his office and into the streets of Konoha.

The familiarity of his old apartment was of little consolation. Peeling clothing off his skin in the hallway, he left it to sit on the floor. The man dragged his feet towards the bathroom passing through the light of a single ceiling lamp. For a blurry couple of minutes he listened to water filling up his bath as steam spread about the room.

Once he twisted the tap and the last drop rippled the clear surface, Naruto entered. The moment he found himself knee-deep in the sizzling bath, though his skin burned, no hesitation weighed on his fluid descent when his tired form succumbed to gravity.

As his eyes parted open, the bleakness of the ceiling filled his vision. Was she cold outside, in that moment? The blond couldn't help but wonder as he slowly drifted into a deep slumber.

* * *

The first thing that she felt was the sweet scent of cherry blossom opiating her senses. As the girl's eyes parted open slightly, she found herself lying beneath a dome of pale pink flowers through which crept the occasional thin streak of sunlight. It took a moment, for the memory of what she had tried, to dawn upon her.

Hinata took a deep, soothing breath as she blinked a couple more times. Soon, her vision cleared as she went on to rub the sleep out of her eyes with the back of a soft hand. The Hyuuga sat up slowly and glanced about to take in her surroundings.

A short wave of panic ensued, as she recognised cherry blossoms that surrounded a familiar house which rose in the distance, over an elaborate koi pond. The blades and the tall trees swayed to the breeze. Kneeling in a lush bed of grass in a light blue sundress, Hinata's heart stopped at the sight of the Uzumaki manor. It stood tall in all of its traditional beauty and prowess — an elaborate red swirl symbol adorned the entrance to the wooden and stone edifice.

Her eyes widened before she forced out a shaky breath. It was stunning. But there lied the issue — it didn't exist.

The Uzumaki manor was a dream she had once shared with her lover in hopes of building a life together one day. She knew everything about the place — all of its nooks and crannies, hidden passages. Hinata had even designed the garden herself. It had a herbarium in the backyard and a main house with a porch. Looking at it now, it seemed all too perfect to be true. As bitter-sweet as it was, that was when the Hyuuga knew that she had come to the right _place_.

Gulping, she gradually she ascended to her bare feet and glanced down at her hands. The girl needed to keep remembering what she was here to do.

 _'Come on, Naruto… Where are you…?'_ She thought inwardly before walking towards the pond, with edges of the blue sundress brushing past her knees. Stepping onto the water's surface, she gazed up towards the balcony where she saw him.

He stood towering over the whole garden in a simple white tee that ruffled in the wind like the messy blond locks atop of his head. Hinata watched him look around with a nervous feeling in her gut, anticipating the moment she will also be exposed in midst of the beautiful scenery. Once his attention fell onto her and they eyes met, the Hyuuga was too stunned to move. Drowsily, his peaceful visage curved into a grin — one might have described it as blissful and even proud. The blue of his orbs gleamed so that she could see it from a mile away.

Abruptly and without warning, she found herself in the bedroom. Her heartbeat quickened at the sudden change. And then she recalled that dreams tended to be that way. Sitting on the corner of the bed in a white nightgown, the girl slowly brought her hand closer to her lips. Her skin smelled like rosewater. It felt like a warm spring day. The doors of the terrace were wide open with white curtains dancing with the draft. Behind them, she saw Naruto with his back to her, still staring at the garden.

Biting her lip, she rose to her feet and subconsciously hugged the sides of her arms. Stepping outside, the closer she got to him the more nervous she became. Cautiously, she placed her palm against his back. The warmth of his skin radiating from underneath that shirt felt familiar to the touch, but in this ethereal space nothing seemed quite real.

"Naruto…" Hinata whispered. He provided no answer and remained standing wordlessly. As her hand trailed from his back up to rest on his shoulder, she moved to his side and gazed up. Naruto's lips were parted with a lithe smile and eyes closed. In sync to where her palm went his body proceeded to shift and move closer to her touch.

He then turned around and slipped his hands around her waist, pulling the woman into his chest, oblivious of the anguish it caused her. Scared to move, she kept quiet as he started nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck.

"Naruto…" She pleaded softly. "We need to talk."

As those words slid past her lips, everything disappeared again and she inexplicably found herself sitting atop of the desk in Naruto's office with her legs positioned over the edge. He rested in his chair, hands on her thighs. Looking around the girl found she was fully dressed and the man in front of her was just staring at her with that same dazed look in his eyes.

Lazily he rolled his neck before tilting his head upwards, leaning in for a kiss. It could have been the sun setting over the horizon or the gentle caress of his eyes on her face. With no explanation, her body moved on its own accord — arms wrapping around his shoulders, slipping and falling into his lap. As their lips edged closer to one another and she could feel the warmth of his breath stroking her cheeks, she heard him utter in a rasping voice.

"I love you…"

 _Slap_. A sharp pain consumed the redness of Naruto's cheek which he gripped in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape. Hinata had struck him with an open hand. While his blank stare was lost in an empty corner of the room, he failed to notice that the girl's eyes were rimmed with unshed tears. Her palm stung and what she'd just done had left her feeling nauseous with guilt. But when he looked up to face her, Hinata had wrapped her head around what she had to do.

"I need you to listen to me and remember everything I say, Naruto." Her tone was firm and demanded focus; so did her eyes.

"Y—Yes." He murmured anxiously.

"Shikamaru and I are in _Doshu_. We found out that it has been invaded by unknown enemy forces. They have stolen, claimed the Nishimori clan's Shizenkan as well as their homes. We need you to send help and capture them before sunrise." She spoke steadily. As she saw Naruto's grimace brighten with realisation, the girl quickly stood up from his lap and walked across the desk.

"Hinata?" The Uzumaki stammered, wearing a baffled expression on his face. "You're actually here…?" He paused, furrowing his brow. "I didn't know you could do this."

She nodded. "Neither did I. But Shikamaru and I needed to reach you quickly and alert you of this… disaster. I had no choice but to try."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair. His nostrils flared as his breathing lagged in a moment of surprise. "So… What do I do?"

Hinata leaned in sternly with her palms holding her over the desk. "Notify authorities of the Hidden Grass and send your troupes after them. They need to raid _every house_ in Doshu without exception and arrest everybody in them. The members of the Nishimori clan are trapped in an underground complex beneath a field of _Mandra grass_." She emphasised. "You can't forget any of this, Naruto. It's important."

He groaned, rising from his chair. "I won't. Don't worry."

"You assigned us the S-Rank. How to we proceed from this point forward?" She queried as her arms crossed over her chest.

Naruto thought carefully for a moment, before saying: "The Hidden Grass will want to know how we found the culprits. Shikamaru has to stay in Doshu and tell how he was going to collect some herbs on behalf of the Nara clan."

As he said so, the Hyuuga's expression sunk. "But—"

"I know you want to take care of it, Hinata, but we need you to find Sasuke. Getting him here is our foremost priority." He hated to see her lose hope like this, but some things had to be done. Naruto bit his lip nervously as she slowly came to terms with it.

"Alright…" She whispered.

The Uzumaki fiddled with a loose end of the bandage wrapped around his hand. As the message was conveyed, silence ensued. Two adults stood five feet away from each other. Hinata fidgeted in her spot while Naruto kept looking at her.

"How strange…" He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "I've seen you in many settings, but… never in my dreams. At least not like _this_." Naruto gazed into her eyes hopefully. She kept quiet, but her lips were parted as though she was itching to say something. The man sighed. "You smell just as good..."

Hinata agonised, circling around the office for a brief moment before turning around to face him. "Naruto, I'm—"

Suddenly, she went mute at the sight of what was approaching them from a distance. Naruto saw the terror in her eyes and immediately turned around, over the Hokage monuments, a tidal wave seemed to be speeding towards the village.

"Shit—" He screamed. "You have to go Hinata, now!"

"I—I don't know how!" She stuttered.

"How did you come here in the first place?!" Naruto asked desperately, walking over to her. "I'm going to wake up soon, but if you don't leave until then you might risk your conscious!"

Hinata took a deep breath, tuning out the noise. Blue lines started creeping from her eyes and the way she saw everything changed. He watched them flutter open.

"Go—", said Naruto.

Before she would, Hinata pulled him into her embrace for a brief moment. As she let go, the tender look in his eyes froze her blood cold.

"Go." He repeated, licking his lips.

"I trust you." The girl nodded before tilting her head back and feeling herself drift away.

 **End of chapter**

* * *

 _Author's Note:_ I am so so very sorry. Has it been a year? More than a year? Probably. I have never abandoned this story and if I ever do (which is highly unlikely) I will let you know. I hope you guys haven't forgotten everything that it's about and that you still haven't given up on 'Recreant'! Tell me your thoughts! I really want to hear what you have to say about everything :)

PS. Hinata and Sasuke are meeting in the next chapter, it has been officially decided. I shall dedicate the entirety of the sixth instalment to the main pairing.

PPS. I'm sorry if you're getting too attached to Naruhina, they do have a special place in my heart. I will probably write a story about them too, but it would be an AU cause I wouldn't want to tamper with the canon too much.

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a nice day!


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

* * *

The rain of Ame poured down as if the sky were falling. All noise faded in comparison to the choir of drops composing waterfalls which cascaded down every solid surface. Hooded in black, Hyuuga Hinata peeked from beneath her wooden _bangasa_ umbrella at the starless, deep teal night sky of the Rain country, undoubtedly clouded beyond recognition.

It was wet and loud and ominous, mirthless in the eyes of a newcomer no matter what time of the year. She bit her lip as the city lights lit up over the horizon. Uchiha Sasuke was near – so near that she felt like she could almost touch him. Undoubtedly, he'd stood in the same spot as her and watched the dreary landscape from the same point of view recently.

His footsteps would lead her to the heart of Ame itself, the voluntary outcast of the Alliance who'd refused to become a full-fledged member by only signing several war-halting guarantees. They cherished their autonomy with such secret devotion that it made them an easy target to dangerous criminals akin to Pain, but even after suffering as much as they had, the cycle continued. She found there was something poetic about that place, no doubt.

Walking on water as the heavens cried in agony, Hinata edged closer to the city with every step. She'd had to take the long way through a restricted area surrounding a dysfunctional border consisting of a body of water that reflected the stormy skies. It was a stunning place with a petrifying feel to it.

The tall skyscrapers of Amegakure rose relentlessly into great heights shining violet and blue monochromes which peeked through the curtain of rain fluttering in the cold wind. Just one day ago, she'd been with her teammate roaming the serene forests and warm meadows scattered about the Land of Grass.

But here, in Amegakure, Hinata felt like she had stepped into a separate universe. All the girl knew was that there was a tragic beauty in the Hidden Rain's natural hostility. She usually avoided going there because of the sheer confusion of her own thoughts. It was an adverse place, yet its flaws resonated with her inner demons. Ame had its own brand of aesthetic which appealed to the divergent and misplaced.

She kept walking, step by step until her stroll turned into a run with the umbrella at her side. The rain was beating down her shoulders rhythmically as she pushed herself to move faster and faster in pursuit of Uchiha Sasuke.

Why was she so resolute in finding him? She'd been upset upon being told that she would have to leave Shikamaru in Doshu and proceed to search for the Uchiha. But once the rush had passed, the odd feeling in her gut came back. What was it that made her so excited to find this stranger? Hinata didn't know. That time when Sai had handed her his drawing, something in his the deep crimson of the Uchiha's eyes triggered an implausible reaction — fear woven by anticipation. She couldn't stop thinking about that night.

The Hyuuga sought answers for questions she didn't have, and never had a good game of hide and seek been more hectic on her part. Hinata just wanted to look him in the eye for real and know why, for the first time in forever, she had lost the control of her Byakugan for which she had trained so hard for.

And he was in Ame. She would bet her life on it. Hinata ran forwards, brushing past hooded pedestrians roaming about the streets, then jumping roof to roof as her body moved on its own accord towards the presence of Uchiha Sasuke. Her Byakugan was resting, but she could feel it in her bones.

The girl was sprinting when she left the city and broke into a clearing. Her heart raced as a shadow emerged in the distance. The winds were blowing from all sides and the bands and clips holding her mane up had fallen off, letting her long hair flow loosely to the currents. Through the hostile downpour, everything seemed blurry. Though the weather was making it hard to see, she knew that it was him.

She speeded towards the target as the rain drummed against her back and the moving water which served as her footing. The fatigue, the splitting headache, the soreness of her muscles, everything faded before that shadow on the horizon. It captured her focus and otherwise, Hinata's thoughts were void.

But the closer she got towards it — the clearer the image, the more puzzled she became.

That is when her running suddenly ceased. She edged forward taking small steps, still trying to wrap her head around what was at an arm's reach. So loudly, so clearly, Hinata could hear the calm electric quaver of the Uchiha's chakra. It hissed, breathed and purled quietly like firecrackers or white noise in the back of her mind. Yet, in front of her stood a tall mass of chiselled amethyst stone.

She stared it up and down before letting her gaze fall onto her own bemused reflection on the opaque crystal with a purple hue. The front was flat and seamless. Looking closely, Hinata was sure that she could see onto the other side of it too.

Uchiha Sasuke wasn't there.

This made no sense when she could feel him so close. Hinata took her hood off, drawing a deep, shaky breath. The rain drummed against her back as if it would bruise and she took shaky breaths, rubbing her temples with cold hands. Her thoughts were in a frenzy.

"No…" Hinata whispered to herself.

Her hand reached out to touch the stone. The rain pouring down its sides trailed along her palm which was going numb in the cold. But the second the tip of her finger collided with the smooth surface, she could feel something else. A familiar force that weighed on her senses — the last thing the girl had felt before slipping into shock during her last proper meditation.

Biting her lip, the girl slowly took another step forwards. She was so close that her warm breath was brushing the surface of the crystal, leaving a foggy spot of condensed water vapour to stain it. She gently leaned her forehead against it before her palm followed. Standing there with her eyes closed, the girl heightened her senses. Overwhelmed by the content of energy and insight into the structure of this bemusing thing, Hinata's entire body seemed to become one with it, for a brief moment. That was until she detached herself from the cold surface and took a deep breath as her surroundings abruptly appeared as much more prevalent than earlier.

Hinata had become amazingly good at reading chakra. It was the one thing everybody in the clan, and beyond, knew she was the foremost expert on. She could see their colours, their scents, their sound and their nature. Sometimes she could even tell things about its possessor, given the time and supply. It was a delicate science that the girl had perfected and in a moment like this it seemed particularly useful.

The other chakra was soft, yet had a deep hum like ocean currents flowing against one another. Very powerful and very raw, yet a lot less striking that the Uchiha's. It was a woman she'd never met before but had felt in her dream.

Hinata bit her lip, realising she'd been so focused on Sasuke that she hadn't noticed this hidden presence.

It took a minute to gather her focus back, spiting the deafening noise of the rain pouring into the sea. A small amount of chakra travelled into her aching eyes before the Byakugan was quickly activated, vessels around them becoming visible and packed. Taking a few steps back, Hinata beheld the whole crystal through a black-and-white lens in which it lit up with violet light.

It was entirely infused. Judging by its character, the Hyuuga took the liberty of concluding that the second presence was just the creator's chakra trapped in the lattice. There was a big question mark in her mind next to Sasuke's name. He was the mystery.

But she was beyond the point of confusion. Hinata stood paces before the object firm against the water as the rain poured down. Her eyes gleamed with something dangerous — the deliberate neglect of all limits both in her own abilities and the rational explanations behind what was going on. She could feel him so closely, but he wasn't there. The girl heaved a deep, steady breath as water trailed down her forehead and wet hair stuck to the sides of her cheeks.

She gathered her chakra and kept her cool, all whilst the throbbing ache piercing through her temples was left buried in the back of her mind. The Hyuuga mustered activating her unique sight, blue lines trailing from the rims of her eyes and down to her collarbones. This had to be the last time.

Suddenly gaining a new perspective, Hinata hitched a breath, having noticed something unusual. Taking a few steps towards it, she reached out to touch it again. The surface was cold and hard, like the last time. Taking a moment to think, the girl bit her lip while staring down at her pale fingers. Her energy was almost entirely drained, but she had another way. She kept still for a few seconds and suddenly, the entirety of her palm became enveloped with violet chakra that danced against her skin like fire.

The last time she had summoned the energy of Hamura Ōtsutsuki was during the battle on the Moon. It was odd to feel it flowing through her so fiercely again. Hinata had kept it suppressed ever since that event, but such great power struggled with laying dormant for so long. A moan escaped her lips as the chakra seeped into her system and filled up the voids.

Her eyes were just slightly parted as her hand gently pierced through the rain, reaching to touch the surface of the crystal with her glowing hand. But, as she held her breath, the moment the tip of her finger was supposed to collide, it passed through the solid object, as if gliding through a thin sheet of liquid that changed its shape to complement the outline of her hand. She gulped before quickly subtracting her limb and bringing it to her chest. Not thinking about where it may take her, the girl turned around from the rock and walked a dozen steps away from it.

Hinata rolled her shoulders and ran her palms from her forehead up, and down to the crook of her neck before rubbing the temples surrounding her blue-rimmed eyes. Her pale cheeks were dusted with a small blush, as the wind and the cold blew from all around. The Hyuuga went back to facing the amethyst structure as it towered over the sea with waterfalls cascading down its sides. She adjusted her ANBU mask to sit tight at her hip, invisible underneath the heavy dark cloak she was wearing over her uniform.

In a second, her body was surrounded by purple chakra which seemed to seep out of her pores and dance across her skin. She bent her knees before starting to run towards the stone, towards the other side, towards Uchiha Sasuke — the electric hum of his chakra echoing in her ear. As a bolt of lightning broke somewhere in the distant landscape of the rain country, Hinata's feet deftly jumped up from the water before her body curled into a ball, mid-air, and penetrated the crystal's fluid surface with her frame glowing in purple flames.

When her body broke the barrier, she expected to be overwhelmed — a rush, collision, flames, anything. But as she pierced through the atmosphere, she quickly touched down onto soft ground. Hinata slowly stood onto her feet, watching as her boots sunk a few inches into a bed of snow. Her Byakugan ceased.

Looking around, she found herself standing on the edge of a vast frozen lake, surrounded by a forest of evergreen starred about a number of hills scattered over the landscape. A similar column of amethyst stone was positioned at the edge of the wood.

Though the night had cast its shadows over the valley she was in, her heart stopped at the sight of bright northern lights saturating the winter forest in subtle hues of violet and emerald. Her breath condensed into a white mist with every deep breath she took. She'd never seen anything so beautiful.

As her mind was wrapping itself around the stunning winter wonderland the Hyuuga had stumbled into, everything was quiet. All of her senses had withered off in that moment of serenity. But quickly, Uchiha Sasuke crossed her mind. Just in time, the calm and silence were broken when the buzzing of his chakra suddenly reappeared.

Hinata rapidly turned around as it was coming from behind. And as she was spinning to her side with edges of her cloak leisurely ruffling about, suddenly it felt like the world was in slow motion.

Snowflakes flew languidly around Hinata. Ascending towards her was Uchiha Sasuke. Time seemed to stop the moment she saw his figure dressed in contrast to the pale white of the snow coating the forest of evergreen. It was the deep red of his eyes that captivated her. Seeing the Mangekyo, so intently focused on her made the girl's head spin, regardless of the dangerous gleam in those orbs. Her chest heaved as the sound of him moving against the current of the wind echoed in her ears next to the hum of his energy, suddenly becoming more like roaring thunder, hostile, but sounding almost inviting, as the Chidori formed in his hand. It was almost blindingly bright, but Hinata's eyes were wide open.

Unwittingly, Hinata's chakra rushed to her head with vigour and drive like she'd never known. In a second, her whole body seemed to surrender itself to the rush as she drowned in the crimson of Uchiha Sasuke's stare. Her Byakugan flared and the Hyuuga was seeing the world with a new clarity, but all of her attention was on him.

As the azure streaks wrapped themselves around her, everything went quiet again — the Uchiha's Chidori ceased and he seemed to lose the frown. Abruptly, he was entranced. Sasuke was ascending towards this girl he didn't know and he seemed to lose the strength in his body the closer he got. It was all moving so slowly.

The pair were stuck in a moment. Overwhelmed by feeling, the raw thrill and inexplicable rush of chakra, in a split second they slipped into overdrive. As crimson met indigo, something happened between those two.

Their conscious minds were undone. Everything went black.

* * *

Naruto sunk further into the deep velvet sofa at the centre of his study, holding an unravelled piece of paper with a bandaged hand. Around him was a dome of dusty shelves and an abundance of Konoha's intellectual and cultural heritage, all contained within the private vault. In spite of having it at arm's reach, he never felt drawn towards knowledge of the past. Hence the neglected appearance of the room.

As he stared at the letter's writing with the envelope he'd dug it out from abandoned on the floor, the Hokage tried to calm his breathing. Clutching the armrest with his left, he processed the information he'd just received from Suna. She was still asleep.

As anxiety and guilt ate at the last of his nerves, Naruto stood from his seat and paced away from the armchair towards the terrace. He bit his lip, leaning on the elegantly carved wooden railing, and gazed over the landscape of Konoha from the top of his mansion. During the years of being Hokage, he'd visited all the Hidden Villages, all the Capitals and beyond. In spite of the extraordinary beauty he witnessed out there, nothing seemed to be more soothing to him than the sight of his home and the hills around it. Everything was going to be fine; Naruto struggled to make himself believe as he wistfully surrendered himself to the breeze and a current of thoughts.

But suddenly, his hands let go of the rail, his muscles tensed and his back straightened; pupils dilated and blood started rushing. Seconds before it happened, the Hokage's body grew alert.

"Shit—" He hissed as an explosion was then heard from beneath him. Naruto's breath hitched as he bent his back and looked over the railing and saw a dense, growing cloud of dust which rose upwards rapidly. He turned around, left the terrace and ran towards the stairs, ultimately jumping straight to the ground floor. Sliding left, he drifted past the living room. The cloud grew darker and more prevalent as Naruto got closer to the source. He held his hand up to his mouth, trying to prevent the filth from overwhelming his airway. He got to the door from under which the cloud was creeping out. As soon as he opened it, the atmosphere became saturated with the black particles. He could barely see anything. Naruto leapt forward and reached a wall at the back of the storage room. Inside he could sense a lingering mixture of splintered wood, smoke, dust and rusting metal of weaponry that hung from the walls and piled atop of many shelves in the cramped space. The cloud was dispersing and getting thinner as it spread throughout the house. Naruto quickly performed a few hand signs and pressed his palms against the wall. A seal materialised and unveiled itself beneath his fingertips. He paced around, waiting for it to fully develop for a couple of minutes. By the time it did, the fog had largely cleared. The Hokage quickly passed another stream of chakra through it and then pushed — a door flew open and Naruto dashed through and down a flight of stairs into a chamber underground. Breathing heavily as his heart raced, he stopped to stare at the sight before him.

"Heavens, Sasuke…" Naruto mumbled. "Was that really necessary?"

At the centre of the room was a plain metal bed frame with a simple mattress and navy sheets. There, Uchiha Sasuke was sat up and staring blankly into the stone wall before him. His raven hair was dishevelled and brushing his shoulders. There was a fury of bandages wrapped all around his arms and torso.

Baffled by his lack of response, Naruto's brow furrowed. "Sasuke…?" He called out carefully this time. He took a step to the side and suddenly the Uchiha's eyes came into view. The black six-handed polygon of his Mangekyo was spinning rapidly and his gaze seemed to be fixated on something in the distance. Sasuke's body was unmoving but his expression made something in the back of Naruto's mind afraid.

The Hokage looked around the room — it was now bathed by a thin streak of natural light as the Uchiha had somehow managed to break the northern wall and the deep layer of mountain rocks around it, without leaving his bed. It was a Chidori — the rawest and most innate expression of Sasuke's energy at this point. Naruto could tell by the air of electricity that was still buzzing through the atmosphere. He probably did it without even thinking. In fact, Naruto couldn't fathom where his thoughts were at the moment.

A foot-wide gaping hole left them exposed to the world. Hardly a worry, but the explosion might've drawn attention. Naruto needed to get them out.

"Sasuke, you're in Konoha." His voice grew stern. The Hokage watched from the side as his friend's Sharingan started slowing down. He was snapping out of it.

"Hey, man…" Naruto walked over in front of him. Sasuke's eyes slowly darted upwards and his entire visage seemed to change. It grew darker, but not alarmingly so. It was just the way he tended to be, but with a shadow of confusion and doubt. Their sights finally met.

"How's it going…?" The blond let out a sheepish laugh, staring into the hostile red of his friend's Sharingan. "Long time, no see."

* * *

Hinata abruptly woke up at the sound of eruption — and as she gained consciousness, it felt like Uchiha Sasuke was all around her, his chakra filling up the room like a hurricane and roaring to the noise of rocks shattering and crashing, wood splintering and thunder breaking. Panicked, Hinata sat up and tried pressed her back against the headboard of the hospital bed she found herself in, and her shoulders collided with a stone, cold surface. There was a dark cloud surrounding her — the girl could barely see what was in front of her. As it was the first time she'd felt this weak in years, she didn't know how to react. Hinata brought her bed sheet up to her lips and breathed against it shakily so as not to inhale whatever seemed to be floating around. Her chest was rising up and down quickly and her eyes slammed shut as her Byakugan flared, in response to the momentary chaos. The noise continued for a few seconds until it began to cease.

Hinata could hear rocks and pebbles rolling and stumbling to the ground, dust starting to settle. Came a moment when everything seemed quiet again. But in her mind, she still sensed the strong presence before her. The Hyuuga hesitated as she lowered the bed sheet and opened her eyes to what was before her.

Her breathing grew heavy. Though she felt calm, Hinata got goosebumps at the sight of him through the disappearing cloud of dust. Uchiha Sasuke was sitting in a bed opposite her, staring her down with his Mangekyo and his Sharrinegan. Wrapped in clean bandages, his upper body was in view, crippled hand and all. The man's hair was unruly and long — longer than it had been the last time she'd got a good look at him. Something in the pit of her stomach turned. He looked almost savage. No words were spoken yet, but he reciprocated — his eyes gleamed with the same bewilderment and curiosity. It felt like a mirror image.

He was seeing her from the other side. Sasuke couldn't falter his gaze from the lilac of her eyes. This quiet interaction was so overwhelming that the questions of their recent past, present and future seemed to fade in the back of their minds.

Sasuke could feel it in his bones, there was something in the air around them. Every inexplicable feeling this girl gave him was driven by chemistry. His gaze lingered from her eyes, following the blue lines that trailed down the pale white of her neck. They were calling to him. The Uchiha didn't understand it. Everything about her presence for those brief moments they spent like that seemed surreal.

And then, she spoke.

"I found you." Hinata's tone was soft and airy. It was almost breathless, but it filled the room. The girl licked her lips and blinked a few times like she was trying to reassure herself of what was before her.

"I really found you…" She whispered.

Sasuke gulped. It was as though he could feel the purr of her voice spreading through his chest. He didn't know her, but he felt so many things about her.

It was frightening.

The Uchiha wasn't going to let a word escape him and provide her with a response. He was passing it as wariness, whilst he'd actually been rendered speechless by the sensation. Then he went on to do what he did better than anyone — he moved.

The moment Sasuke shifted to his knees from a sitting position and the navy sheets of his bed ruffled around him, Hinata's breathing stopped. Her eyes remained locked with his, but the mirror image of them had suddenly broken. The Hyuuga felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest as Sasuke's feet touched the ground. What made the situation even more baffling was the way the man seemed to have emerged from inside his own body. Behind him, in the bed remained a man of the same appearance, characterised by a furious Mangekyo Sharingan spinning. He was still and void of any sign of consciousness.

With a gulp, Hinata's sights landed back on the moving figure of Uchiha Sasuke. He was edging closer — it was excruciatingly slow. The Hyuuga's body was burning with anticipation. It was on a subconscious level, as in reality her mind was flooded with confusion which made it hard to think. She couldn't think, she could just _do_.

The girl was weak, but she hitched up the edges of her nightdress and propped herself up on her knees. Then she could hear it again — the electric hum of his chakra pulsating towards her. But this time it was somewhat different. As his knee landed on the edge of her bed, it started getting louder and louder. Suddenly, she realised that the oddity in midst of his melody was actually foreign. It was her chakra oozing through the room with his, sounding like waves crashing against a cliff. They were both so violent, so overwhelming, yet in sync.

The closer he got, the louder the noises became. A point came when they couldn't be distinguished from one another. His Mangekyo was spinning wildly as he found himself at the edge of the girl's mattress.

As his head throbbed with the deafening noise surrounding them, the Uchiha's hand rose towards her face. It was unhesitant. As their senses amplified, his countenance seemed to loosen. Hinata's breathing stopped — his palm landed on top of her dark blue head of hair. Sasuke then trailed his thumb down the side of her forehead up which crept a blue streak. The moment he touched it, his lips parted. It was mesmerising.

Sasuke could feel the energy streaming beneath his fingertips. He'd never felt such a thing before, but it spoke volumes to him.

"You…" He started to say something, but words failed him again. Hinata slowly closed her eyes. The noise ceased in the background. That was until the newfound silence was broken.

 _"Sasuke—"_ Both of them suddenly turned towards the source of the sound. It was Naruto standing at the edge of a staircase, looking forward with a puzzled expression on his face. Sasuke quickly stepped down from her bed and followed the blond's gaze towards his own. That's when it hit. There was a spitting image of him sitting in the very same position he had been in moments ago. He then exchanged glances with Hinata.

"What's going on…?" She asked, hoping to get an answer she was desperate for. Then again, so was he.

" _Sasuke, you're in Konoha."_ Naruto stated firmly. He couldn't see them, that was for sure.

Sasuke licked his lips, "I don't know..."

Nonetheless, they both knew that it was bound to be found out.

The next second Hinata blinked, just to find herself in a completely different place.

She was drenched in sweat and her whole body was aching. Hinata trembled laying down as she stared at the beige ceiling over her head. She could hear the light squealing of a rusty window frame tapping against the metal sill in the draft. It mixed with the sound of her heavy breathing as she tried to calm down. Her Byakugan was in full bloom.

It took a minute to process her general state of physical disarray before acknowledging the situation she was in. But the Hyuuga realised where she was immediately. The intertwining scents of disinfectant and the dry desert air were more than telling enough to prevent any confusion that might've ensued. The past minute played over in her head, and something in the back of her mind knew that it wasn't a dream.

She found her muscles were sore as she attempted to budge from a laying position. Trying to let out a painful groan also failed, as it came out as more of a high-pitched whimper. Her voice was aching and raspy.

Looking down at her arm, she saw an IV attached to it. At the upper end of the long, opaque plastic tube there was a banana bag, similar to those which Kakashi tended to hook her up with whenever she'd go into meditation. Without hesitation, she dragged a clumsy arm to her side and slipped the clear needle out from underneath her skin.

* * *

 **END OF CHAPTER 6**

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_ Hi! I am soooo sorry it's taken so long to update. To be honest, I'm not very happy with how this chapter turned out, but I realise that with the amount of work I have to do, it would be impossible to start rewriting it now. It's also a lot shorter than my normal posts. I feel like I have conveyed the main things I wanted to, but it's not my best so far (in general). In case there are any typos, grammar mistakes, or oddly used words, I apologise! I haven't read through this chapter a million times.

Also, I know many people who've read this fic have really been looking forward to the meeting of Sasuke and Hinata. I only hope this hasn't been an underwhelming or overwhelming note to start their relationship on. I have a lot in mind for the future of the story. I've always wanted them to start off with a bang, dōjutsus and all. I'm not used to this style either and I didn't want it to seem sexual or erotic in any way. I'm trying to describe a connection being formed that's rooted in the mysterious bond between their kekkei genkai. I don't want to spoil anything though:) It is weird, trying to vividly depict something that not even your characters can fathom.

Long story short, I reallyyy really really would appreciate constructive criticism for this one! Whatever your thoughts are (provided they're not blatantly disrespectful), please do review! I'm open to improvement. That is, after all, why I started writing anyway. English is not my first language so I use fanfics to get better. And I hope you've enjoyed the chapter if you've read so far :) I promise I won't forget about this story. If I ever do decide that I don't want to continue, I will update so that those that are interested to know, do find out.

I hope you have a great day, whenever it is you're reading this!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** I am sorry for not updating sooner! I had a major writer's block, although I knew what I wanted to do with the storyline. I hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

* * *

Quiet.

Through a gap in the sliding door, Hanabi watched her father with his knees firm atop a tatami mat. He sat by a short-legged tea table, staring into the distance. The girl could feel something heavy weighing on her chest — it was pain unlike any other she'd ever felt. Hanabi knew that if she were to make a sound, Hiashi wouldn't budge from that deep state of silent thought he'd been falling in and out of lately. Still, she feared the tea tray she held might slip out of her hands — break and echo the empty house at this late hour. The fall might shatter the porcelain. The noise might shatter whatever kept him moving. She bit her lips. It made no sense. From where she was standing, it was almost as though she could hear the screams inside his mind.

Heavy breathing.

Dark shadows embraced him like an old friend.

Seven days.

Seven days ago, Kakashi had come and delivered that news. During said week, her father seemed to have aged twenty years. His hair was still a warm, youthful brown, but the curve of his back was ever so slightly bent in dismay as though old age was weighing on his spine. The skin around his iridescent orbs was tinted with grey. Hiashi looked sickly and soft to the touch. Her heart ached for him, but Hanabi had never seen him this way. He'd never exactly equipped her with the skills of caring and tending to another person.

Her father wasn't bleeding or ill. All she knew to do was serve him tea at even intervals and bring fresh water to the lilies decorating their dining table every two or three days. If she didn't do that he would subtly frown and flare his nostrils in discomfort upon noticing the emerging scent of stale water lingering about. No, she couldn't have that. And in spite of all the missions and training sessions she'd missed, the girl stuck around because nobody else could — or would.

Hyuuga Hiashi mooned around the place like a ghost and Hanabi was his shadow. He refused to see anybody else. Keeping the windows closed and blinds drawn, the man made the house appear haunted from the outside. Konohamaru mentioned over the phone that people had started talking. Rumors surrounding Hiashi's odd behavior and sudden withdrawal were the fresh meat villagers of various social standings had been feasting upon lately. For the first time in forever, there was something tangibly odd about the mighty Hyuuga clan that they could point their fingers at.

Hanabi was _tired_ of it.

It was embarrassing. She was embarrassed, but Hiashi was nothing but lifeless at this point.

In a second she would break all of those who dared take the Hyuuga name in their filthy mouths — prove them wrong. But how could she do that when she needed to tend to this, once powerful and spiteful man, who was suddenly reduced to a pile of misery.

Did she pity him?

God, no.

She took a sharp breath and slid the door open with her foot. As expected, Hiashi didn't budge. The girl eyed him with a distasteful frown as she walked towards him. His back was to her. Though the light tapping of her footsteps against the tatami mat was making her presence beyond obvious, he did absolutely nothing to acknowledge it.

A shadow, that's what she'd become.

Hanabi placed the tea tray in front of him and deftly poured some of the liquid from the pot into his delicate cup. She then bowed, straightened her back and aimed to leave.

But she was interrupted in the middle of this attempt when his words suddenly broke the deafening silence. "This is not my tea.", her father said unexpectedly.

The girl stopped in her tracks for a second. It took some time to process the first time she'd heard his voice for days. It was as smooth and deep of a baritone as it had been before. Yet, something about it made her… angry? Hanabi rolled her neck as she took a polite step back and stood before him.

They made eye contact. Just a week ago Hanabi saw the man kneeling before her, to be the epitome of dignity and reason. Now she could see in him both the posture of a depressed old man and the gleaming eyes of a stubborn child. She couldn't distinguish which one prevailed.

"What do you mean?", she uttered in confusion, staying guarded and composed with hands neatly folded in front of her.

Hiashi slowly took the teacup and brought it up to his nose gently. The white fumes from the hot beverage were brushing against his pallid skin until he inhaled deeply and tilted his head upwards to face her once again. "This is the tea from our garden. Though it is excellent, I wanted the loose leaf Doshu green tea. It is superior in both taste and medicinal quality," he stated.

Hanabi blinked several times. Somehow, staring him in the eye was making her squirm, but not with fear. It felt as though she was talking to a stranger. A clock was ticking in the background, yet she had no sense of how long she'd made him wait for an answer.

"We ran out," she mustered to say. "We ran out of the Doshu tea. They haven't been making deliveries for some time now and you haven't been exactly keen to listen when Ko tried telling you that in the meeting let week. I've been told it's because one of their transport carriages brought along some foreign pest… which they are struggling to exterminate from their fields. That is very unfortunate, but I was hoping you wouldn't be opposed to drinking the homegrown… kind." Hanabi's voice grew thinner and quieter as she finished her last sentence.

Hiashi grunted and shook his head in disbelief. "Impossible. Those carriages have been used for trade around the continent for hundreds of years and never has anything of the sort happened. People of Doshu are far too cautious to allow such a mishap." He crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the brewing liquid at his table. "What do I do now…?"

"You… could… get in contact with our clan members who live in Doshu, ask for an explanation and drink our tea in the… meanwhile…?" Hanabi suggested, lowering herself to sit in front of her father as she recognized an opportunity to get him talking.

"Preposterous," he immediately declined.

Hanabi abruptly raised her eyebrows in bemusement. "Well… Why not?", she asked whilst becoming increasingly irritated by his attitude.

Hiashi proceeded to heave. "I simply cannot bring myself to do such a thing right now. The pain and confusion I am… feeling at the moment are… overwhelming. I require time to think."

His daughter sat there for a moment, squinting, biting her lip, as his gaze was once again directed through her. Like she faded into the background, merged with the scarce furniture or melted into the tatami they sat upon. All the words she'd wanted to say for the past seven days were at the tip of her tongue. They had been boiling and accumulating within her gut for way too long. Blood was rushing to her face.

Driven by the fury in her chest, Hanabi finally frowned and shouted, "What the actual fuck, dad?!"

Suddenly, Hiashi's eyes snapped wide open in disgust and disbelief. His lips parted open, itching to say anything, but the entire moment felt so surreal to the Hyuuga Head, that he was rendered almost speechless.

"How— How dare you?!" He hissed in a higher pitch, hands slightly shaking in his lap, from anger and surprise. Nobody had ever spoken to him like that before.

Hanabi shook her head. "No, no… How dare _you_?" The girl pointed at him spitefully. The frown on her face was that of a fighter on the battlefield; one full of rage and on the verge of their spirit being broken. She realized she couldn't put up with this nonsense any longer. She continued, "How dare you act as though you have all the time in the world to waste? Do you know how irresponsible you're acting now?! How entitled do you think you are to abuse my respect towards you like this?!" Her voice was loud enough to be heard from anywhere, but she was in a headspace where all those things seemed irrelevant. Hanabi's face was burning as she subconsciously understood the magnitude with which she'd crossed the line. Nevertheless, she kept going.

"The leader of the mighty Hyuuga clan has been moping around his expensive little house, relishing his precious thoughts and complaining about the taste and medicinal qualities of his green tea, whilst he has no _fucking_ idea what's actually going on behind those doors! Why? Because he is in a bad mood." She tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned in, jabbing her finger against his chest. Hiashi flinched though his arms remained limp at his side.

"Are your people starving, father? Has the village burned down? Do _I_ have a life that doesn't center around cleaning up after you and your puddle of sadness?!", she asked angrily and gulped. "Can you answer any of these questions? I don't think so!" She faked a laugh. "Why? Because you heard some bad news? Because your darling daughter is gonna do something bad to herself? The same darling daughter who hadn't known anything but your wrath and torment as a child? And you are surprised?" Hanabi stopped, and yet Hiashi kept quiet.

"Say something, dammit!" Hanabi's fist slammed against the table. The fine wood broke and chipped, as did the tea set. The glass scattered across the floor around them, but she wasn't paying attention. All she could see was the horror in her father's eyes.

"What's that look on your face, father? Are you scared of me? Or worse," she paused theatrically. "—are you _disappointed_? In me? The one who's never abandoned you, never questioned or rejected you." Suddenly, Hanabi's tone became somewhat less infuriated and the hurt she was feeling became prevalent.

"I know you feel pain," she gritted through her teeth. "We are going through all the same things, father. I don't sleep at night either, you know? But I also live knowing that there's nothing I can do to help either of you. Have you any idea of how pathetic that makes me feel?" Hanabi sobbed as she saw Hiashi's countenance transformed like he'd witnessed an epiphany.

She pulled the edge of her sweater over her wrist and wiped her tears with the white cloth before whispering, "I'm here, father. I've been here all along. Not her — _me_. I don't know when you are going to see it, but she wants nothing to do with us anymore. Hinata always chose Team 8 over family — then Naruto, then the Black Ops, then Kakashi — she always chose everybody over her own clan." A pressure behind her eyes kept growing and fresh tears started gathering at her waterline.

A minute of silence ensued as father and daughter sat there, surrounded by splinters of wood and shattered porcelain, in the middle of a dark room. The sun had set. Hiashi was still speechless as Hanabi inhaled and started again.

"Father, I love her," she gulped. "I love my sister, I really still do. But it's just not worth what you're doing. And I… _refuse,_ " her voice trembled and grew stronger, "—to be treated this way. As the future head of this clan… I _demand_ that you get your shit together and do what a powerful leader should. That can be anything — just not _this_."

* * *

The Uchiha sunk further into a brown leather sofa with one arm stirring a chilling glass of whiskey on ice and the other toying with a ripped piece of fabric peeling off from the armrest. Biting the inside of his cheek, Sasuke's sights were set on a particular moldy brick and its upper right corner — for no particular reason. For the past several hours, he'd been sharpening out the details of his recent past and anticipating the arrival of a someone sent to gather information. In his gut, there was an unsettling feeling — anxiety unlike any he'd ever felt. There was a black hole in his memory leading up to a moment he experienced something that left such an indelible impression that he felt like it had changed every atom of his being.

Yūgao Uzuki, a Konoha embassador, was killed in the Land of Water.

Akira Suizen stood up to him on the rocky cliffs of the Hidden Sound.

The gaze of one woman sent him into overdrive when he fell unconscious somewhere in the Land of Snow.

Next thing, he found himself seeing the ghost of her from a hospital bed in Naruto's hidden basement.

Sasuke's heartbeat picked up substantially as he recalled the multitude of crucial details in this sequence he failed to understand. Nonetheless, there was no benefit in getting carried away. Keeping a cool head, the Uchiha finally registered approaching footsteps.

Soon enough, he recognized the languid and spirited stride of one former teacher of his.

"Didn't expect to see you first, Kakashi," his words echoed against the stone walls of Konoha's most covert detainment facility.

Hatake appeared before the cell's entrance, sheepishly ran a hand through his silver mane and peered through the bars detaining his former pupil. "I live to please," he said in a coarse monotone, "I see you're receiving quite the star treatment."

Sasuke took a sip of his whiskey. "Got the whole place for myself," he chuckled, referring to the dozen empty cells filling up the vacant floors underneath a small gardener's supply cottage just outside Naruto's mansion. "An uncomfortable bed, a sofa, a mini-bar… Five stars."

The Hatake toyed with the lock hanging off the bars and assessed Sasuke could have easily broken himself out - not that he had any reason to do so. "Don't go too hard on the liquor, soon enough you should expect to be drilled on just about every second of your life for the past three months," Kakashi advised.

"Seeing Naruto locked me up in here, not much I do could give him the right to complain," Sasuke put the glass down on the stone floor.

The former Hokage tilted his head to the side inquisitively, "After the stunt you pulled in his house you can't blame him."

The Uchiha frowned slightly and Kakashi observed the way his charmingly cynical disposition faltered.

"I woke up not knowing where I was, it happened out of instinct," Sasuke uttered calmly.

"Say that to anybody else, but don't expect _me_ to believe it."

A pregnant pause ensued — two men exchanging dangerous looks begging for a reaction.

The Uchiha gave in first. Slowly, he stood from his seat, stretching every sore and aching muscle down his back throughout the ascend. His bandaged torso gleamed ominously in the candlelight as Sasuke took three long steps towards the prison bars, rested his elbows against a horizontal iron column and edged his face closer to his unexpected visitor's. Sasuke played his cards cautiously, still unsure of how to present his recent past.

"Why are you here, Kakashi?" He whispered as their eyes met.

The Hatake took a deep breath through his nose, staring at the natural, focused ferocity in Sasuke's eyes. His quiet fords scarcely filled the silence when he started. "Just about two hours from now, Naruto will wrap up a meeting with someone from the Capitol and make his way here, beyond driven to find answers," Kakashi emphasized huskily, "many of which I'm sure you still don't have".

Sasuke's fingers tightly wrapped around the rusty metal bars, feeling their moisture on the palms of his hands, "How do you know this?" He asked, failing to suppress his frustration.

"Shikamaru Nara testified that on the first of October, an ANBU was well on her way to Ame in navigated search of you. She was meant to inform you that your presence was needed in Konoha and proceed to join a group in Suna. Once they realized she was alarmingly late, Kiba and Shino searched for her," Kakashi's voice grew quieter and more stern, "This attempt lead them to the borders of a lake at the northernmost point of the continent, light years away from where she was headed to. The search party found the two of you after a week-long journey, buried underneath a growing pile of snow, frostbite and all…" As he uttered those words, Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief.

"So," Kakashi continued placidly, "there are multiple aspects of this narrative which call for my interference… First and foremost being the ANBU, Hyuuga Hinata."

Then it clicked — her name. The Uchiha's lips parted as adrenaline rushed through his system. He felt this inexplicable relief upon realizing those two words. Ever since he first laid his eyes on her, they'd been at the tip of his tongue. Now as they rang in his mind, they were more akin to an ethereal chant than a mash of syllables.

"Judging by the look on your face, I'll take the liberty of assuming you are familiar with her, correct?" Kakashi quirked an eyebrow, watching the younger man gulp in all seriousness. Sasuke nodded.

"Cool," the Hatake continued, "Well, out of all the plot holes in this story I will go about, there is one I find most significant. You woke up on the morning of the fourteenth around 9 AM, setting off an extremely powerful Chidori that caused a rupture in several tons of stone and concrete. Interesting thing is, at the very same time in the Hidden Sand, Hinata rose from her sleep in a manner that could have resulted in the death of two medics _and_ the Kazekage," Kakashi inhaled the scent of rust and mold that lingered in the air, which seemed to be seeping out of Sasuke's lungs with an exponentially increasing velocity.

"I have a feeling this cannot possibly be a coincidence, and I'm pretty damn sure Naruto doesn't think so either," said Kakashi.

"I don't understand it myself," Sasuke growled. He paused to think before continuing, "I met Shikamaru in the Land of Water where he directed me towards Akira Suizen… I followed her north towards Mountain's Graveyard—"

Both men suddenly jerked their heads towards the west end of the corridor Kakashi was standing in, only to find that it was only a rat crawling out of its hole in the wall that alerted them. Sasuke licked his lips, deciding to continue.

"She moved fast, never stopping at nearby towns — rested covertly every few days. Eventually, she noticed me. I should have been more careful. Somehow, I think I fell under her genjutsu and I don't remember anything after that," The Uchiha's visage was saturated with anger and disappointment. "Next thing I know I'm knee-deep in a pile of snow. I see Northern lights up in the sky and feel somebody's presence before me. I panic, thinking it's Akira and leap onto this… woman."

Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek, anticipating the turn of events. The Uchiha's rage seemed to evaporate into thin air, his voice becoming gentler and gaze drifting off to the side as memories played out in his mind.

"Her eyes," Sasuke mused with an expression of complete bewilderment, "There was something about her eyes…"

"How come?" Kakashi prompted.

"They were a pale shade of violet, not white. Unusual for a Hyuuga as it is, but there were some kinds of… blue streaks around her eyes and… down her cheeks… her neck…" The Uchiha's words withered into silence.

"What happened then?"

Sasuke blinked, regaining his focus, "My Mangekyo activated instinctually. That second I felt like I was being pulled out of my body. It was insane, there's no word to describe it."

Kakashi edged his face closer to the young man, driven by intrigue. "Was it painful?"

The Uchiha gulped, obviously shaken by the memory. The sensation of that event still lingered in his bones.

"No," he said. "It felt…"

"Good?"

Sasuke rubbed his temples in frustration. "Look, Kakashi, my head feels like it's gonna split in half and I don't like being the one who does all the talking."

The Hatake let out a deep breath, loosening his grip on the metal bars, "I'll tell you everything you need to know—"

"Wrong," Sasuke interrupted, "If you want me to cooperate, you're gonna tell me everything you know. No lies, no exceptions."

* * *

Sakura propped her knees up on the black leather stool. Edges of her lab coat wrinkled up in her lap as the girl tirelessly adjusted the optical lens of an electron microscope to tower over a paper-thin sample of an iridescent material. Her emerald eyes squinted at the semitransparent slice, evaluating the optimum angle at which the beam of electrons could penetrate it and produce the best quality image of the crystalline structure.

Lost in thought, she failed to notice that someone had inconspicuously slipped past the blurred glass doors of Sunagakure's most state-of-the-art biochemical laboratory. Through the maze of bulky machinery, glassware and cupboards riddled with samples, a man sheepishly walked towards the Haruno.

"Sakura," a voice startled her.

The girl's pale hands jolted away from the frail sample as she quickly rotated on her heel to face her visitor.

"Kankuro," Sakura's startled expression turned into one of mild relief. "You scared me…"

The tall brunette ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck, "I—I didn't mean for that to happen, I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry," Sakura let out a nervous laugh. "I… haven't seen you in a while. What brings you here?"

In all honesty, seeing the familiar war paint and wilding brown tresses momentarily brought her back to an earlier time.

"I bring news," Kankuro said, taking off his hood and letting it drift down his broad back. "Hinata is awake."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh," she exhaled, "Thank God…" Her palm reached up to clutch the white fabric over her chest. Kankuro empathized as he saw the wave of relief that flooded the Haruno. "How is she now?"

"The second she opened her eyes, these… deep blue flames started seeping out of her body. Gaara shielded the two nurses from them, but the shit was everywhere. It burned through his sand and caught his arm. By the time I realized what had happened, Hinata snapped out of it, and I watched it retreat." Kankuro elaborated before muttering a 'thank you' once Sakura motioned him to sit down on the stool opposite her.

"Tell me more," Sakura was eager. "What kind of chakra was it?"

The prince of Suna fidgeted in his seat, slightly peeved by how small it was. "I have no idea, to be honest… It spread like wildfire but didn't burn anything physical. Well, except for the Kazekage," he chuckled.

Sakura mused, trying to piece the puzzle together in her mind. "Fascinating… What happened with his arm?"

Kankuro shook his head, "My brother's too proud to let anyone take a look at it. Bottom line is, Hinata is with him now and they're both fine."

"That's odd… I thought she'd be with her teammates," Sakura prodded.

"Nah, Gaara and Hinata are super close; have been, since they first met back when she was tried in a Kage Summit here a few years ago," Kankuro consciously overlooked the surprise plastered all over her countenance. "Kiba, Shino, Ino – All Konoha people have been told to keep their distance until the dust settles, anyways."

"I haven't—" Sakura furrowed her brows.

The young man's tongue traced his bottom lip inarticulately as he awkwardly responded, "I've been told you probably wouldn't even attempt to make contact because of... well…"

"Oh." Sakura feigned acceptance as she turned around in her seat and faced the electron microscope. "Because of Sasuke?"

"Is it true?" Kankuro asked warily, eyeing the curve of her nape exposed by boyish strands of pink that fell down her neck while she bent over the crystalline sample.

Sakura scoffed, "Why do you care about Sasuke?"

"I don't," He stated, sounding almost offended by the notion. "I care about you though… as much as you'll let me." Those words filled the room with such vibrancy a surplus of memories flooded both of their minds.

"Kankuro…" Sakura sighed shifting to face him, "You don't owe me anything." She stared into the eyes of a grown man – same ones she peered into all those years ago when they were bloodshot and wide with terror when she anxiously extracted poison from his body.

He gave a forced smile, avoiding her gaze. Kankuro felt explaining himself would be out of place.

"Well, he's awake too. I thought you should know, we just got the news," he blurted out.

Sakura's lips parted and she let out a labored breath. "Thank you," she murmured, trying to remain as collected as possible.

"It's a miracle they're both alive… Considering where we found them."

"They are both very strong people," The girl gulped, instinctually placing her palm over her chest again, "They would survive anything."

Kankuro slowly nodded, observing her reactions. "You really like Hinata, don't you?"

Sakura chuckled, "And that surprises you?"

"Is it bad to say yeah?" The brunette tilted his head back, leaning against a heavy laboratory freezer.

"I hate what Hinata does to my best friend, and I don't think she's honest all the time. How secretive she is annoys the hell out me, not gonna lie…" Both of them grinned at her confession. Sakura continued, "but… in the bottom of my heart I don't think she's a bad person. I'm a scientist, I test theories and provide evidence to support my conclusions. With her, I can't do any of that. I can't shake the feeling there might be a reason for everything she does... I was angry at her, but the moment I heard what kind of danger she was in, my heart sank. I don't wish anything bad on that poor girl..."

Kankuro listened carefully as the Haruno toyed with her spinning chair ever so slightly, looking at her knees.

The man took a moment to think before speaking up. "I don't know much about that girl or her relationship with Naruto, but I do know my brother. She's very dear to his heart, and Gaara doesn't let anybody in so easily. They seem to have some deeper understanding... Gaara would never attach himself so strongly to someone who's not one hell of a good person."

Sakura groaned in frustration, "I just hate being so in the dark! How did they even get to the Land of Snow if Sasuke was in Ame? I heard about what happened in Doshu, how did Naruto find out about it? They say it came by letter, but they were on an S-rank, nobody is stupid enough to send out a messenger that might compromise their secrecy… None of it makes sense."

Kankuro empathized. "It does feel like it's all connected, somehow, doesn't it?"

"Yeah… But, those people should be the least of my worries now. I have Akira Suizen to think about now," said Sakura.

"What are you looking into?"

The pink-haired girl licked her lips in concentration as she prepared to elaborate. Standing up from her seat, she motioned Kankuro to scoot over and take a look at what she was pointing at.

"A Konoha ambassador, Lady Uzuki Yūgao, was murdered in her residence in the Land of Water. Our main suspect is Akira Suizen, who is allegedly a survivor of Orochimaru's human experimentation, and a shared asset between Kiri and Iwa. This sample I have here is a slice of the crystalline suspension they found her in – shattered in pieces." Sakura ended with a low note, her eyes filled with remorse.

"And how is this related to what's going on right now?" Kankuro pondered.

"Shikamaru met him in the Land of Water during his mission. Sasuke, I mean. He was going to tail this woman. I don't know what happened of that, but… My duty is to do basic research on Akira's technique, identify which blend of kekkei-genkais she possesses." The Haruno explained.

Her company nodded, soaking in the information and eyeing the iridescent sample underneath the electron microscope with wonder. "Is there a possibility that this could be just a technique she uses?"

"Yes, actually," Sakura replied with a jumpy disposition, "One reason we suspect it might be a bloodline is due to its rarity. The other reason is that for a while, Akira Suizen was an apprentice of Mei, the Mizukage, who is infamous for her kekkei-genkais."

"Mind if I took a look at it?" Kankuro queried, to which Sakura muttered a 'yes, of course', and handed him a bulkier chunk which contained several strands of Yūgao's purple hair trapped within the crystal.

"Interesting," he murmured whilst inspecting it, "It's incredibly durable. It won't shatter—"

"Please don't break my sample!" Sakura panicked.

The man stared at her baffled expression before chuckling, "I won't. I couldn't, even if I tried… Have you tested how it responds to chakra?"

Once he asked that question, something clicked in Sakura's mind. "No… actually… I didn't."

Kankuro then brought his hands up so that his palms were face to face. Swiftly, a bright blue string of glowing chakra appeared, bridging his middle fingers. Sakura's face lit up and she took a step closer to examine his creation.

"It's so pretty," She was mesmerized. "Can I touch it?"

"If I were on the battlefield, touching it would make a clean cut right through your hand. Here, yeah, of course…" He laughed as she withdrew her hands and hid them behind her back. "Don't be scared, here—"

He thrust the string forward. "Trust me," Kankuro reassured.

Sakura slowly nodded and stretched out her fingers to caress the entity. It was void of texture and was felt only in the form of light pressure against her skin. Pushing it up and down it was very elastic and made some warmth gather in her hand.

"I… I like it," Sakura sheepishly admitted. "But… how do you manipulate it so variedly?"

"Good question," Kankuro proceeded, "I have four chakra affinities, but in combat, I scarcely use any of them. To connect with my puppets, I use unfiltered chakra. It is derived straight from my body and when the bond breaks, it pours back in. Makes it easier to stay ready and conserve energy. Raw chakra is more malleable, so with a little bit of practice I can induce it into any state or consistency I like."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat in excitement. "To inhibit the process of chakra differentiation, you must understand it very well."

"I don't know how to explain it," Kankuro admitted, "but it's a technique that's been passed on for generations by clans in Suna. Chakra has a main line that it follows through our bodies, right? But it's in the branches of that cycle that all the fun happens."

"Not a lot is known about those junctions," Sakura suggested thoughtfully.

Her visitor's hands moved articulately as he spoke, "There are several pathways it can take before being expressed by its user, and some techniques can only be achieved by those who have the biological capacity for transforming chakra in a certain fashion. Those are bloodlines."

"So, are you suggesting that somehow we might be able to use the chakra from this sample and… reverse-engineer it into its undifferentiated state?" Sakura's mouth went agape.

Kankuro gave it some thought as he scratched the back of his head. "If we can successfully reverse-engineer it using the same stimuli generic Earth Release responds to, then we'd be free to dismiss the theory it's a bloodline. If otherwise, then the evidence to support the claim would be pretty solid, to begin with."

The Haruno stared into his brown eyes with inexplicable joy, yet no smile on her lips. "How do you know all this?"

The brunette rolled his eyes humorously. "Why does everybody always forget," he said, "I'm an engineer. I build humanoid puppets. I'm the master of my craft… And I learned a lot from reading your columns for the Medical Ninjutsu Express."

Sakura couldn't contain a burst of laughter that escaped her. For a second there, she imagined this guy with his war paint on, clad in pitch black, hiding out in a lair with his creepy puppets, snuggled up against a cup of multi-vitamin tea and a crisp copy of the latest edition of the Express, reading an article on chakra malignancy.

"I'm an educated man, Sakura, your mockery is hurting me," he joked.

"I'm sorry, Kankuro," she managed to catch a breath through her fit. "You just don't really make an effort to present yourself as so… enlightened—" Sakura buried her face in her hands.

He grunted jokingly, "Rudeness…"

"Don't worry," she finally said with a smile, "I can help you with that. Go grab yourself a lab coat and some goggles… Help me out with this and we'll make a real intellectual out of you."

* * *

"Since when do you drink?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the sight of his old friend riding up his sleeves and pouring rice wine into an old mug which he'd got as a souvenir from the Land of Earth. The liquid spilled over the brim messily and yet Naruto proceeded to mindlessly put the lid back on his expensive, gold-embroidered porcelain bottle and laugh.

"When one's been the youngest, most inexperienced Hokage in history on top of finding oneself in a constant state of being broken up with, one may find the extensive imperial liquor stash to be quite useful to drown one's sorrow on a lonely day at the office." Naruto's voice was dripping with sweet irony and Sasuke couldn't help but let out a throaty chuckle. His friend eagerly jumped into a brown leather sofa at the center of this hidden room they'd come to within the ANBU HQ. There were an old bed and a small table with a few wooden chairs to complete the interior. Sasuke stood leaning against the wall — underground and inside this cramped space he felt restless and weirdly uncomfortable.

The Uchiha eyed suspiciously as his friend downed the mug and reached over the armrest to just grab the entire bottle.

Naruto said, "Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not like Tsunade. I don't do this very often…"

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "That's good to know. On top of everything that's going on, I don't believe you could afford getting drunk on a regular basis." The Uchiha instinctively raised his hand to catch as Naruto swiftly threw the bottle in his direction.

"Try it," the Hokage suggested with a grin.

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief, but ultimately took a sip of the surprisingly strong beverage. "That's foul." The Uchiha cleared his throat before putting the lid back on and passing the bottle back to Naruto.

"Don't be a wuss." The blond teased. "You'll get it when it kicks in… In a few minutes, you'll feel like all the bullshit life has thrown at you has been nothing more than a… friendly pat on the back. And I need that."

A pregnant pause ensued. Both men remained in their comfortable positions and nobody was saying anything, in spite of it being so abundantly clear that there was much on everybody's mind.

"Sometimes I drink when I'm stressed, Sasuke." Naruto resumed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Right now, you're one of the many things keeping my glass full."

The Uchiha chuckled, half-amused by the Hokage's unusual mood. "I'm listening," he said.

Naruto ran his palms up and down his thighs, no doubt sore and stiff from all the desk time consuming his daily schedule. As Sasuke watched the blond open his mouth to speak, suddenly his line of vision became blurred and the noise of his best friend's speech faded into nothingness. White light rapidly emerged from all sides and he saw a red blur before him. Panicked, he gripped the edges of his seat, as so close to his ears the Uchiha could hear the muted sound of a woman's breathing; something warm against his neck. The image gradually came together and his focus landed on the aquamarine eyes of one Kazekage.

" _None of this is your fault. None."_

Gaara's words enveloped him. He felt like his throat was choking up, a maddening sensation of guilt buried in his bones and spreading through his chest. He was so sorry, it almost drove tears to his eyes. Why? The familiar scent of wet sage after a desert thunderstorm hit his nostrils.

As quickly as it came, the picture of Gaara faded and the quiet crackling of candles in the interrogation room resurfaced. Sasuke's breathing slowed as he tried to stay calm. Feeling the texture of cold leather underneath his fingertips once again was comforting beyond words.

"Oi, something wrong?" Naruto's voice made him snap out of this daze.

Sasuke ran a hand through his unruly raven locks and nodded. "Yeah, just... tired. The mini-bar you left in my cell doesn't make up for the lack of mattress on the bed, you know." He spoke coyly, though his heartbeat was still raging from the moment before.

"Anyways… I need you to debrief me, starting from the last time you were dispatched from here," Naruto insisted, though Sasuke had other plans.

"Before I get there, I need to ask... How did I get from Iwa to… here?" He looked up and stared into the Uzumaki's eyes with such conviction. What a stellar performance that was – showing off genuine concern mixed with a generous dose of egotistical reluctance to admit ignorance.

Hearing that question, Naruto's blood boiled. Quietly.

"Is that the last thing you remember?" The blond asked very slowly, emphasizing every word as though it's of immeasurable importance. Naruto's ocean blue orbs reflected fury and distress, but regardless of his personal feelings, Sasuke wasn't about to falter.

"I saw Shikamaru and then," pausing for a second, the Uchiha looked to the side and feigned an attempt at the recollection, "and then I was on the way to my… inn." There it was – the perfect example of a moment one had an epiphany so undesirable it deserved silence and an ashamed countenance.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Naruto yelled angrily. "That can't be, you need to think, Sasuke, please!"

Sasuke bowed his head as though in shame. As his companion proceeded to vent, the Uchiha hesitated to look up. In the back of his mind, he prayed Kakashi and him weren't making a mistake.

* * *

"None of this is your fault. None," Gaara's words echoed against the domed ceiling of his office. Hinata gulped, watching him stand behind his desk, showered with sunlight creeping from the windows. His eyes were kind, genuine - a taste of his calm was rubbing off on her as she sat before him, clutching a blanket close to her chin.

"I fell terrible," Hinata whispered, "I don't even know what that was... I should've been in control."

Gaara shook his head adamantly. "Don't be absurd. You were out cold for days, who knows what kinds of changes your body has been through. No damage was done, so please, Hinata. Don't worry."

The girl's brows furrowed as she eyed her friend's right arm, tightly wrapped in bandages and hidden underneath his kage robe.

"What did I do to you?" She asked softly.

 _"You_ didn't do anything. My flesh and bones are intact... but..." Gaara hesitated to explain, knowing how badly the girl suffered for her mishap. "It seems to have obliterated my chakra supply in this arm."

Hinata buried her face in her knees. "I can't believe myself... First thing I woke up, I was fine, I took out my IV and then blacked out, I-"

"Stop it," the Kazekage chastised, "What's done is done. My arm will heal eventually, and we need to focus on you."

A pregnant pause ensued, as Hinata took a minute to gather her thoughts. She licked her lips before glancing up at her friend. "I found Sasuke," Hinata uttered.

"I know," Gaara nodded to Hinata's surprise. "We found the two of you together in the Land of Snow." As he made his way around the desk, the Hyuuga's mind drifted and buzzed reminiscing the last thing she saw before losing consciousness - Uchiha Sasuke's crimson eyes. "You just woke up and I don't want to shock you with all these questions, but-"

Hinata's mind suddenly went blank. Her body and mind seemed to have violently detached from the present moment. Darkness filled her vision. Several specs of light emerged before they acquired the shape of candles. They illuminated the furious visage of Uzumaki Naruto.

 _"She was there with you! Why, Sasuke? Why?"_

The Hyuuga felt a bitter taste in her mouth. Vulnerable, guarded, obsessed and nervous - she was jittery yet unmoving. Seething, yet placid on the outside. For a second there, she couldn't breathe.

Swiftly, all that pressure evaporated and she felt like she'd fallen into her seat from zero-gravity. Gasping for breath, she gripped the folds of her blanket.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" Gaara fell to his knees before her and brushed the hair out of her face. "Tell me," he pleaded.

Her gaze was shaken as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Kakashi," she said, "I need to talk to Kakashi."

 **End of Chapter**

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hi guys! I hope you liked the chapter. I've been trying to be more experimental with my writing so let me know what you think! All constructive criticism is more than welcome. Have a nice day!


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